Marauder Stories
by Padfoot79
Summary: A collection of short stories about the Marauders. *new story up now* Rated R for sex and swearing. Contains other characters from my fanfic
1. Introduction

This is a collection of short stories about the marauders. It includes other characters form my fanfic "Harry Potter and the Death Eaters" so it may be a good idea to read that first (and review please *big grin*)  
  
The stories are not in chronoloical order but just as I write/post them. I'll add a note at the top so you know when it's set.  
  
Disclaimer: All JKR's characters are hers and are nothing to do with me.  
  
R rated for sex (no slash) and swearing so don't read if this offends you  
  
Please read and review 


	2. A night at the Hogshead

This is set the year after the marauders leave Hogwarts. It is mentioned in my fanfic "Harry POtter and the Death Eaters" but here's the full story! Please review  
  
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"Come on Dung, where the fuck are you?" Talitha McKenzie muttered to herself. She was standing in the Gryffindor common room waiting for her friend Mundungus Fletcher to open the portrait hole so she could get out. She was wearing casual clothes and was completely covered by an invisibility cloak so nobody knew she was there. Students weren't supposed to be out of the common room after about eight o'clock. It was only just gone seven but people would notice if she was there later on. So she had made an excuse of going to bed with a headache, covered herself with the invisibility cloak and returned to the common room to wait for Dung. No one would think twice about Dung being missing but it wasn't done for the Head girl to be breaking the rules. Eventually Dung came down from the boys dormitories, opened the portrait and climbed through. Talitha followed him. As soon as they were out of the common room Talitha glanced down at the piece of parchment she had in her hand and saw that the coast was clear.  
  
"Now" she whispered and Dung slipped under the cloak with her. For the first time she noticed he had a very large book with him.  
  
"What's that for?" she whispered.  
  
"I was pretending I was going to the library" he muttered back.  
  
"Dung, you were supposed to be looking inconspicuous. Who's going to believe you were going to the library? In fact who would believe you even knew where the library was?"  
  
"Fuck off! I've been in the library..." Dung replied, pretending to be offended by what Talitha had just said "Once…I think"  
  
"Come on lets go" Talitha said. They crept down through the castle and out into the grounds. They reached the whomping willow and Dung grabbed a long stick that was conveniently lying on the ground. Talitha pushed it through the branches of the tree and pressed a small knot on the trunk. Still under the invisibility cloak they crawled under the tree and through a small gap in the trunk. Once inside the tunnel below, Dung pulled the cloak off of them.   
  
"We did it" they both laughed and started running down the tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel they climbed out into the shrieking shack where a familiar face was waiting for them.  
  
"Alright Jim" Talitha greeted her older cousin, James Potter, with a grin. He grinned back.  
  
"You made it then" he said  
  
"No problems" Dung replied.  
  
They left the invisibility cloak, the marauders map and Dung's library book on the table and the three of them walked out of the old house and towards Hogsmeade village.  
  
"Where's Sirius?" Talitha asked.  
  
"Still at his flat making himself look pretty" James laughed "He's going to meet us there."   
  
They shortly reached the Hogshead pub and walked inside. It was already busy but they soon spotted Remus Lupin standing near the door, Talitha and Dung went over to join him while James got them some drinks at the bar. They had almost finished the drinks when somebody spoke in Talitha's ear.  
  
"Alright then gorgeous" Talitha looked round to find a tall, handsome, dark haired eighteen year old grinning at her. Talitha grinned back at Sirius Black. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a t-shirt.  
  
"Well don't you scrub up well" she replied with a smile and then kissed him.   
  
The group made their way across the busy pub towards an empty table and started to sit down.  
  
"Don't sit down yet Padfoot" James said "It's your round" Sirius went over to the bar to get more drinks. While he was gone Lily Evans arrived, having just apparated into Hogsmeade a few minute before. She kissed James as she sat down next to him and he put his arm round her.  
  
Sirius arrived back with five large Firewhiskeys which he passed around.  
  
"Ah Lily, why didn't you get here before I went to the bar? I didn't get you anything"  
  
"I'll go" Remus said.  
  
"Well get me another then" Sirius said as he knocked back his drink in one go.  
  
"Me as well" James added emptying his own glass.  
  
"Best get another round in then Moony" Talitha grinned. Remus rolled his eyes upwards and laughed to himself as he pushed his way through the crowded room.  
  
"What time's the band on then" Lily asked.  
  
"In about an hour or so I think" James told her. After Remus arrived back Talitha and Dung started telling the gang about Hagrids new dog, Fang.  
  
"He's huge" Dung said "He makes Padfoot here look like a little puppy" They all laughed.  
  
The group continued drinking, James and Sirius putting away about twice as much as everyone else.  
  
"I'll get some more in then" James said, wobbling slightly as he stood up.  
  
"Don't you think you've had enough" Lily asked sternly, glaring at James through her emerald green eyes.  
  
"Enough? Me?" James laughed  
  
"You can never have enough of this stuff" Sirius added waving his glass in front of Lily's face.  
  
"James, I really don't think you should be drinking any more. The band hasn't even started yet and you're drunk"  
  
"Don't talk shit Lily." James laughed "I'm not drunk. If I was drunk would I be able to do this" He put his empty glass down on the table and attempted to stand on one leg. He managed about one second and then wobbled and fell. Remus tried to grab hold of him to stop him falling but ended up on the floor as well. They both started laughing as they lay on the floor. Sirius chuckled to himself and then wandered off to the bar. Lily stood up.  
  
"If you have any more to drink James Potter I'm going home" She turned and walked off to the toilet. Sirius returned with more drinks. James and Remus had managed to get themselves up and sitting back at the table.  
  
"You're going to get him in trouble" Dung laughed as Sirius placed the drinks down on the table. Talitha was giggling but said nothing. She wasn't going to be the one who upset Lily even more. Peter Pettigrew arrived at the table.  
  
"Alright every one" he greeted them "What's going on?"  
  
"The stag's drunk and Lily's not happy" Talitha laughed.  
  
"I'm not fuckin' drunk" James muttered, slurring slightly.  
  
"She's coming back" Remus whispered, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "You've had it now Prongs" They all looked at the fresh drink in front of James.  
  
"Fuck" he muttered. James grabbed the glass and attempted to drink it before Lily got back to the table. She saw him.  
  
She marched over to the table and grabbed her bag.  
  
"I warned you" she said "I'm going"  
  
"Wait Lil. I'll take you home." James told her. "Now where's my broom"  
  
"You don't think I'm getting on that thing with you in that state do you" She replied  
  
"But you can't apperate home Lily" Talitha said "You've had too much to drink to do that. You'll end up splinched"  
  
"Well I've got to get home somehow and he's not taking me"  
  
"I'll take you Lily" Peter offered "I've not had a drink yet" Lily smiled at him gratefully  
  
"I hope you feel like crap in the morning, it'll serve you right" She said to James as she left.  
  
"Love you" he called after her. Sirius snorted.  
  
"Don't think that'll do you much good Jim"  
  
"What did I do?" James asked innocently after she had gone. They all laughed.  
  
"You just wait till she gets hold of you tomorrow" Talitha warned him jokingly "You'll know then"  
  
"Looks like Prongs won't be riding tonight" Sirius grinned  
  
"Right, who's round is it then" James asked ignoring Sirius' comment.  
  
Not long after the band had started playing, Dung wandered off to talk to one of his brother's friends who might have some quills that had fallen of the back of a broom.  
  
"Shit, Hagrid" Remus muttered.  
  
"What?" James asked looking confused.  
  
"Hagrid's over there by the door. He must have just got here"  
  
"Fuck!" said Talitha. Being out of school grounds at 10 o'clock at night was bad enough but being drunk in a pub made it ten times worse. There was no way Talitha could move from the table without Hagrid seeing her unless she cast a blinding spell on him and that would just make things worse. Remus jumped up.  
  
"James, you go and get Dung out of the way. I'll try and distract Hagrid"   
  
James walked quickly, wobbling slightly, over to Dung. James grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the toilets. Remus headed over and started talking to Hagrid.  
  
"Shit, Shit, Shit" Talitha muttered "Why didn't we think of this before"  
  
"Hagrid's not normally in here when we've been in. Not in the week." Sirius told her.  
  
"I'm so going to get expelled"   
  
"Fuck he's looking this way" Sirius muttered. He grabbed hold of Talitha and started kissing her, making sure his back was facing Hagrid so as to disguise them. This went on for a few minutes. Neither of them could see Hagrid now so they couldn't tell if he was still looking.  
  
"Alright you can come up for air now" Remus laughed as he sat back down "He's gone, said it was too noisy in here so he's gone to the Three Broomsticks"  
  
"You only did that so you could have you're wicked way with me" Talitha laughed as she pushed Sirius playfully, relieved that she hadn't been caught "I bet he wasn't even looking".  
  
"No, he was looking" Sirius protested and then he grinned "but I'll have to remember that one for next time"  
  
"Fuck me, that was close" James commented as he arrived back at the table with four more glasses of Firewhiskey. Dung had gone back to sort out his deal.  
  
A few more drinks on and James and Sirius were singing loudly. Unfortunately, they weren't singing the same songs as the band, which the band and the other people in the pub weren't too pleased about.  
  
The barman came over and asked them to be a bit quieter. Had they agreed and stopped singing everything would have been alright. Instead Sirius and James decided to argue with him. The barman started getting angry and everyone from the surrounding tables were watching. Remus stood up.  
  
"Come on lets get these two idiots home" he said to Talitha. Remus grabbed hold of James and almost dragged him out of the pub. Talitha guided Sirius after them.  
  
"Dung! I'll meet you back at Sirius' when you've done" she called across the pub. Dung nodded back at her.  
  
Remus and James were laughing when they got outside.  
  
"You're fucking mad you are Potter" Remus was laughing.  
  
"Shut up Fur-face" James laughed back. They all walked slowly up the street towards Sirius' flat. James was staggering, leaning on Remus to keep himself upright. Sirius had his arm around Talitha's shoulder, her arm was round his waist. Neither was sure who was holding who up.  
  
James came to a stop outside Dervish and Bangs which had a Cleansweep 5 in the window, and started muttering incoherently about which broom he was going to buy. Remus sat down on the floor next to the shop, expecting to be there a while.  
  
"We'll catch you up" He called to Sirius and Talitha as they walked on ahead.  
  
"Did I ever tell you how pretty you are?" Sirius slurred.  
  
"Yeah every time you get drunk and want me to stay at your flat" Talitha laughed. Sirius grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes.  
  
"I'm not staying tonight. I've got to get back. I've got classes tomorrow" Talitha said "not that I think I'll be able to transfigure much"  
  
"Go on stay"  
  
"I can't"   
  
"Go on. Please"   
  
"Don't look at me with those cute puppy-dog eyes, Padfoot" Talitha laughed.  
  
"Stay for a bit then"  
  
"I'll stay until Dung gets back" Talitha said.   
  
Sirius glanced behind him. James had now sat on the floor next to Remus and was rambling on about Quidditch.  
  
"Looks like Moony and Prongs maybe sometime" he grinned.   
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Remus dragged James into Sirius' flat about fifteen minutes later to find Sirius unconscious on the sofa. Talitha came out of the kitchen with a glass of Firewhiskey. James took one look at the glass and went very pale.  
  
"I think I'm gonna be…" he ran off to the bathroom.  
  
"Nice" Talitha said with a chuckle as she drank the Firewhiskey back in one go  
  
"I expected you two to be, you know" Remus said awkwardly.  
  
"Well, he passed out about two minutes after we got here" Talitha replied, looking over at Sirius dribbling on the cushion. She rolled her eyes and laughed.  
  
James emerged from the bathroom looking even paler than when he went in. Sirius started snoring.  
  
"Looks like I get Padfoot's bed then" James smiled and headed off to the bedroom, where after removing his glasses, he fell face first onto the bed and was soon asleep.  
  
Talitha sat down in one of the armchairs as Remus sat in the other. She poured them both a drink as Sirius started muttering.  
  
"No…..get off…. I don't want to…No." Talitha and Remus looked at each other confused, wondering what he was dreaming about.  
  
"Get off…Prongs…They're my chocolate frog cards" Talitha and Remus burst into laughter. Talitha managed to spit Firewhiskey all over the floor and Remus was almost choking. Sirius grunted and turned over.  
  
"Well you get more intellectual conversation out of him when he's asleep than when he's awake" Remus laughed.  
  
"What…" Sirius muttered as he sat up. Talitha and Remus just looked at each other again and laughed. Sirius looked at them both with a dazed look on his face. He then glanced around the room.  
  
"Where's Jim?" he asked.  
  
"He just threw up in the bathroom and now he's unconscious on your bed" Remus told him.  
  
"Dirty fucker. OI! PRONGS! GET OFF MY BED!" Sirius stood up and wobbled slowly over to the bedroom. He pulled his wand out and poked James in the ribs with it. James grunted but remained still. Sirius shot some red sparks at him. James leapt off of the bed and tried to grab his wand not realising he had left it in the bathroom while he was being sick.  
  
"What the fuck" he yelled at Sirius as he shoved his glasses back on. Then he screwed his face up as the colour drained out of it. He turned and ran back to the bathroom. Sirius laughed, flopped down on the bed and fell asleep again.  
  
Talitha got up and walked over to the bathroom.  
  
"You alright James" she called through the door.  
  
"nnndonfeelwel" James muttered back.  
  
"I think I'll leave him to it" Talitha said to Remus as she turned back to him, only to find he had fallen asleep in the chair as well. Quietly she walked over to the bedroom and went inside. She sat on the side of the bed and lightly stroked his face. He opened one eye slowly.  
  
"You git, you weren't asleep were you" she said, smiling at him. Sirius grinned back at her as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her down on top of him. Talitha giggled as she looked into Sirius' dark eyes.  
  
Sirius ran his hands through her long dark hair as their lips touched, he felt her tongue enter his mouth, exploring it wildly. His hand reached up and touched her face as his tongue ran over her lips. She tasted good. He rolled her over so he was lying on top of her. Talitha's hand moved up under his t-shirt and ran up his back. She pulled his t-shirt up over his head and threw it onto the floor. Sirius's mouth moved down her onto her neck as he reached under her vest top and cupped her breast. His other hand moved under her and expertly unclipped her bra.  
  
As they heard a banging noise outside in the street, Talitha stopped kissing him and looked up.  
  
"Ignore it" Sirius muttered as he started kissing her neck again. Talitha moaned softly and pulled his face up so there mouths touched again.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Remus jolted awake as he heard the banging as well. He shook his head to try and waken himself up, and then stood up.  
  
"James, was that you?" he called, realising James was still in the bathroom.  
  
"waswhame" He heard James mutter back.  
  
"Doesn't matter" Remus yelled back. He pulled out his wand and then cautiously opened the door to the flat and went outside.  
  
Out in the street he found Dung on the floor against a wall. His lip was bleeding and his eye swollen.  
  
"Alrigh' Moony" he tried to smile. Remus could see the pain in his face as smiling pulled on his lip. Remus pulled him up off of the floor and dragged him inside.  
  
Dung fell into a chair and Remus noticed some of his clothes were torn. James emerged from the bathroom to see what all the noise was about.  
  
"A fight in the hogshead" Dung said to them as they both stood looking at him. "I didn't start it but…" He then started to laugh as best you could with a fat lip. He clutched his side where his ribs hurt.  
  
"Ow" he muttered  
  
"Who?" Remus asked.  
  
"Dunno, some big bloke" Dung replied "An' now I'm banned for life"   
  
James laughed "Only you could get banned from a pub before you're old enough to drink in it legally"  
  
Remus was looking at Dung's face to see what damage had been done.  
  
"We could have done with Lily here to fix this mess" he said. James sat down and went quiet at the mention of Lily, remembering now that he was in her bad books.  
  
"I'm not going to attempt to do anything with you Dung. I'll probably end up making it worse." Remus continued "We'll have to get you back to Hogwarts and hope Madam Pomfrey doesn't ask any questions"   
  
"She wouldn't believe it even if I told the truth" Dung smiled, wincing again with the pain.  
  
"Tali, you better get out here" Remus yelled. A minute later Talitha opened the bedroom door and came out wearing Sirius' England Quidditch team T-shirt which came half-way down her thighs. Sirius followed behind in just his boxer shorts. His hair ruffled, looking even more untidy than James'  
  
"Dung, what in Merlin's name have you been doing" Talitha asked. Remus explained quickly, realising that talking was causing more pain for Dung. Talitha returned to the bedroom to get dressed. When she returned James had retreated back to the bathroom to be sick again, the site of Dung's blood not helping the situation.  
  
"Moony's took Dung outside for some fresh air" Sirius told her. He was now wearing a pair of track pants.  
  
"You stay with James" Talitha said as she kissed him "we'll manage Dung"  
  
"Best friends, they're a nightmare" Sirius laughed. Talitha bent over to pull on her shoes, tripped and fell. Sirius caught her arm before she hit the floor.  
  
"Shit. I think I'm still drunk" she giggled. Sirius picked up the bottle of Firewhiskey and laughed.  
  
"Well you did drink half this bottle to yourself"  
  
"Moony had a glass"  
  
Sirius grinned and kissed her nose  
  
"See you on Saturday" he grinned.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Talitha walked out into the street and the air hit her making her go slightly light headed. She saw Remus and Dung further down the street and tried to run and catch them up, changing her mind when she realised running and Firewhiskey didn't mix. She opted for walking and calling after them instead. It wasn't hard to catch up as Dung was walking very slowly limping on his left leg.  
  
Eventually the three of them reached the shrieking shack. Talitha grabbed their belongings from the table as Remus helped Dung into the tunnel.  
  
"I'll come with you" He said climbing down after Talitha. At the other end of the tunnel they emerged from the whomping willow and headed up towards the castle under the inviability cloak, Remus having decided that neither Talitha nor Dung were in a good state to make it back on their own.  
  
They made there way up to Gryffindor tower with Talitha only falling over twice. Although they had a near miss when the cloak fell of and they just managed to pull it back on when Filch the caretaker came round the corner. They had stood silently as he passed and as soon as he had gone Talitha burst into a fit of giggles.  
  
"Sssshhh!" Remus warned, although her giggles were contagious because by the time they reached the common room they were all laughing. Talitha fell onto one of the sofas unable to control her laughter.  
  
Slowly Dung made his way up to his Dorm and Remus grabbed the cloak and map  
  
"I'll take him to Madam Pomfrey in the morning when the smell of Firewhiskey has gone off of him and tell her he fell down the stairs or something" Talitha told him. "Thanks for your help Moony"  
  
"All in a days work." He grinned "Anyway it was better than clearing up James' sick"  
  
He threw the cloak back over himself and Talitha watched as the portrait opened and closed again, not without a large 'tut' from the fat lady. 


	3. Marauders at Hogwarts

A/N: This had probably been done to death but it's the Marauders first time at Hogwarts. Sorry it's only short but I'm working on my book 7 fanfic as well as this. Please review  
  
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"Talitha, will you hurry up"  
  
"But it's not fair, I want to go as well"  
  
"You can't, you're too young. You have to wait until next year"  
  
Talitha McKenzie screwed up her face and followed her Aunt Jenna. They soon caught up with her Uncle William and cousin, James. They were standing by a wall between platform 9 and platform 10.  
  
"James, Talitha, you go through and we'll follow" Uncle William said. They walked towards the wall and disappeared through it onto platform 9 ¾.  
  
James ran his hand through his dark untidy hair. He adjusted his glasses and then glanced around. Talitha sat down on the large trunk marked 'James W. Potter' that was on the luggage trolley James had been pushing.  
  
"Cheer up Tali. You'll be coming as well next time"  
  
"You get to have all the fun, just because you're older than me" she replied sulkily and glared at him through her hazel eyes. James laughed at her which must upset her even more because she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Talitha!" Aunt Jenna said as she appeared through the wall "Don't do that please"   
  
Uncle William laughed at her. James took hold of the trolley and tried to push it.  
  
"Well get off then" he told Talitha. She stood up and folded her arms in front of her. James pushed the trolley over to the train. Jenna Potter hugged him and was trying hard not to cry.  
  
"Mum don't, you'll embarrass me" James laughed.  
  
"You behave" William Potter warned him "We don't want any owls from the school about what you have been up to"  
  
James climbed into one of the carriages. He opened the window and leant out. He reached over and ruffled Talitha's already messy hair.  
  
"Get off me, Jim!" she yelled and then started to smile. She reached up and did the same back to him. She started laughing as the train started to pull out of the station.  
  
"Bye! See you all at Christmas" James shouted.  
  
James turned back into the carriage and found another boy already sitting there, reading a book. The boy smiled at him nervously.  
  
"James Potter" James said smiling back at the boy.  
  
"Remus Lupin" the boy replied "Are you new as well?"  
  
"Yep, I can't wait to get to Hogwarts"  
  
James sat down across from Remus just as a boy with dark hair walked into the carriage. They both looked up at him.  
  
"Do you mind if I sit here?" the boy asked "My parents made me sit with my cousins but now the train has set off they won't know that I'm not"  
  
James nodded and the boy sat down.  
  
"Sorry, I'm Sirius by the way, Sirius Black". James and Remus introduced themselves. They all sat in silence for a few minutes and then Sirius began rummaging in his pockets.  
  
"Anyone for a game of exploding snap then?" he asked as he pulled a packet of cards out.  
  
"As long as you don't mind losing" James replied with a grin. After a few noisy games they were interrupted by a tall, thin dark haired girl a few years older than them.  
  
"Sirius, what are you doing down here." she demanded. "You were supposed to stay with us"  
  
"Get lost Bella!" Sirius replied "I don't have to do what you say"  
  
"We were supposed to be keeping an eye on you" the girl said, nastily.  
  
"Like I'm going anywhere. We're on a train, I can't go far can I?" Sirius threw back at her.  
  
"Whatever" the girl snapped as she turned and left. Sirius grinned at his new friends.  
  
"My cousin Bellatrix" he explained "Thinks she's it. I hope I'm not in the same house as her, I can't be doing with that every day"  
  
"What house is she in?" James asked.  
  
"Slytherin" Sirius replied "All of the Blacks are in Slytherin. Well except Bella's sister Andromeda. She's in Ravenclaw. Almost outlawed by the family she was for that. But my other cousin Narcissa is in Slytherin and my parents and most of my ancestors were. Have you two got any brothers and sisters already at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I haven't" Remus replied "I'm an only child"  
  
"I've got a cousin who lives with us since her parents died but she doesn't start Hogwarts till next year" Said James.  
  
The three boys spent the rest of the train journey talking about their new school, playing exploding snap and swapping chocolate frog cards. They changed into their school robes shortly before arriving at Hogsmeade station.  
  
They got off the train and they were greeted by a very large, very hairy man.  
  
"Firs' years this way" he was calling. He led them to some boats at the edge of the lake. The three boys climbed into one and sat behind a thin, pale faced boy with long dark greasy hair.  
  
Half way across the lake Sirius pulled something out of his pocket.  
  
"What's that?" James asked as he leaned over trying to see.  
  
"Wet start firework" Sirius whispered back.  
  
"You aren't are you?" Remus asked with a grin. Sirius nodded. He waited until he thought no one was looking and casually threw it into the lake. The greasy haired boy in front turned round and glared at him. Seconds later there was a large explosion. Water sprayed every where and the students in the boat next to theirs were soaked. Sirius started laughing loudly as did James. Remus was grinning but trying not to laugh because he didn't want to get in trouble on his first day at school.  
  
"What idiot did that?" A red haired girl shouted from the boat that got wet. The boy in front of them glared again.  
  
Up at the castle a young but stern looking witch met the new first years. She told them her name was Professor McGonagal. She went on to explain the Sorting procedure and then led them into the Great Hall where they all stood waiting to be called forwards.  
  
"Black, Sirius"  
  
Sirius walked forward casually, like it was something he did every day. He sat on the small stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.  
  
"Hmmm…" it said to him "another Black but you seem different to the rest…not for Slytherin I don't think. Clever enough to be in Ravenclaw but no…I don't think so….hmmm" Sirius glanced round the hall looking slightly bored.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR" the hat yelled aloud. Sirius stood up and grinned as he took the hat off. He looked over at the Slytherin table still smiling. He walked slowly and deliberately to the Gryffindor table and waved sarcastically at his two cousins as he did so.  
  
"Evans, Lily"  
  
The wet, red haired girl stepped forwards looking slightly nervous. She sat down and after a few seconds the hat shouted  
  
"GRYFFINDOR"  
  
The next two students went to Hufflepuff and the next one to Ravenclaw  
  
"Lestrange, Rebastan" was sorted into Slytherin and sat down next to a boy that was obviously his brother. Sirius' cousin Bellatrix shook his hand.  
  
"Lupin, Remus" Remus sat on the stool nervously.  
  
"Very interesting" the hat began "not had one like you before. Now what to do with you" the hat pondered a bit more. Remus glanced up at James who was smiling at him. He then looked over to Sirius sitting at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was pulling faces at him trying to make him laugh. Remus stifled a giggle.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR" the hat shouted suddenly. Remus ran over to the table and sat down next to Sirius. The sorting continued.  
  
"Pettigrew, Peter" was sat on the stool for along time before the hat once again shouted.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR"  
  
"Potter, James" Professor McGonagal called. James walked up to the stool and picked up the hat. He was still standing and had just put it on his head when it shouted  
  
"GRYFFINDOR". He joined his new friends at the table. The last student to be sorted was the boy from the boat with long greasy hair.  
  
"Snape, Severus" was sorted into "SLYTHERIN"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Later that night Remus lay in his bed feeling very happy. He had never thought he would be able to come to Hogwarts and he thought he would never be happier than the day Dumbledore told him and his parents that he would be able to go to school. Today, he found out that he had been wrong as he was far happier, today he had made friends.  
  
Sirius was also awake. At last he had gotten away from his parents and No. 12 Grimmauld Place. How he hated that house. He was pleased that he hadn't been sorted into Slytherin so now he wouldn't have to listen to his older cousins bossing him around, although his parents were not going to be happy about it. Oh well maybe they would disown him and then he wouldn't have to listen to them anymore.  
  
James however fell straight to sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
James woke up somewhat confused the next morning, until he realised where he was. He climbed out of bed, put on his glasses and looked around. It felt strange not hearing his mum shouting him to wake up or yelling at Talitha for leaving a mess in the bathroom. He smile to himself, he was going to miss his younger cousin. They had grown close in the last three years, since she came to live with them. She was like a sister to him now.  
  
"Morning" Remus said sleepily from his bed across the other side of the dorm. He rolled out and started to get dressed. James noticed that Peter was also up and getting dressed as well. James looked in the mirror and tried to flatten his hair down. After a few minutes he gave up as it now looked worse than when he had started.  
  
"Do you think we should wake him up?" Remus asked, looking towards Sirius' bed. Before James had chance to answer they heard a loud yawn from behind the drapes and then Sirius poked his head out and grinned at them.  
  
"Today the fun begins" 


	4. Lily Evans and the Conceited Head Boy

A/N: The narauders seventh year. Please review  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lily Evans turned and waved to her parents as she prepared to go through the barrier to platform 9 ¾. They smiled proudly at her. Her long red hair shone and her green eyes twinkled. Lily appeared on the other side of the barrier and glanced around. This would be her last journey to Hogwarts and she wanted to enjoy every second of it,  
  
"Lily" a voice called to her  
  
"Bethany. How are you? Did you have a good summer?" Lily replied to her friend.  
  
The small blonde girl nodded as she smiled at Lily.  
  
"Hey Lily. Any news on who's going to be Head boy with you?" another girl asked her. Lily smiled as her best friend Freya and their other friend Charlotte came over to join them.  
  
"You're Head girl?" Charlotte asked excitedly. This lead to a minute or so of girly giggling and screaming before Lily answered Freya's question.  
  
"I don't know yet, I suppose I'll find out soon enough, we get our own carriage"  
  
"So you won't be sitting with us then?" Charlotte asked.  
  
"Depends who he is" Lily smiled thinking dreamily of the handsome Ravenclaw prefect, Toby Williams. The girls giggled again.  
  
"Neither will I" Freya added "I got made prefect now that Lily's head girl. The house that has the Head boy and girl gets another seventh year prefect to replace them"  
  
Lily made her way to the reserved carriage. She climbed onto the train and looked around. There was already a bag on one of the seats and a cloak. She nudged it cautiously to reveal a Gryffindor badge.  
  
'Remus' she thought to herself. The Head boy and Girl were normally picked from last years prefects although they didn't have to be. However, out of the four male Gryffindor seventh years, Lily could only imagine Remus Lupin being the one Professor Dumbledore would pick. Peter Pettigrew was certainly not Head Boy material and Professor Dumbledore would have to be out of his mind to make Sirius Black or James Potter Head Boy. Lily was looking out of the window at the platform when she heard a quiet cough behind her.  
  
"Hi, Remus" she said brightly without looking around. Another cough. Lily turned towards the door of the carriage.  
  
"Potter what are you doing in here? This is for the Head boy and Girl only. I suppose you thought Remus would let you come and sit here as well"  
  
James smiled at her and looked down at his red T-shirt. Lily gasped when she saw what he was looking at.  
  
"You! You can't be Head boy" she blurted as she saw the badge he was wearing. James grinned at her.  
  
"Better get used to it Evans. We'll be spending a lot of time together" He replied. Lily glared at him.  
  
"You're winding me up aren't you? I bet you and your friends will be having a right good laugh at me later on. Yeah well haha! Now give Remus his badge back and get out of here" she yelled at him.  
  
"I'll show you my letter if you want" James said seriously. Lily was silent for a few seconds.  
  
"You're telling me the truth aren't you" she said quietly. James nodded.  
  
Lily sat staring out of the window. The train had pulled off by now. She watched as they passed through London.  
  
"I suppose we better go and see the prefects" she told James.  
  
"After you" he grinned. Lily swept out of the carriage into the next one which was reserved for the prefects. James followed. The other seventh year prefects and the sixth year prefects were all sitting round chatting. The new fifth year prefects were standing nervously wondering what would be expected of them.  
  
James went and sat with Remus and his cousin Talitha, who was the Gryffindor sixth year prefect. Lily glanced at him, what must Professor Dumbledore have been thinking?  
  
The prefects all gradually stopped talking and looked at Lily, as if waiting for her to speak  
  
"Hi, I think everyone knows me, I'm Lily Evans" She said "I'm Head Girl this year" She looked over towards James.  
  
"Yeah and I'm James Potter, head boy" he added casually. Lily then went on to read out and explain the list of instructions that had been left for them. After the formalities, most of the prefects left to join their own friends. Lily left James in the prefect's carriage and went to collect her belongings. No way was she spending the entire journey with him. Just as she picked up her bag James came in holding the instruction sheet.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked  
  
"That's none of your business" Lily replied  
  
"Well it says on this that we have to stay in here in case anyone needs to find us" James said waving the piece of parchment at her with a slight smile on his face. Lily didn't reply but threw her bag back down onto a seat and then sat on the one next to it. James sat down across from her and grinned  
  
"What are you grinning at Potter?"  
  
"Nothing"  
  
They sat in silence for over ten minutes, James trying his best not to grin or laugh at the situation.   
  
"So were your parents pleased when you found out you were going to be Head girl" James asked to try and break the ice.  
  
"Yes" Lily answered. James thought that was all she was going to say until after a short pause she continued "Were yours?"  
  
"Over the moon. Couldn't shut my mum up for days. She told everyone she met, regardless of whether she knew them, even muggles. Obviously not the Hogwarts bit just the head boy part. My dad took my badge into work to show everyone" James laughed "It's a bit embarrassing really" Lily smiled back, Mr and Mrs Potter sounded really nice, just like her own mum and dad.  
  
"Was that a smile I saw" James asked her  
  
"Maybe. I was just thinking how alike our parents sounded" Lily replied. They both sat staring out of the window again until James spoke.  
  
"Hey, Lily. Maybe we should spend this time to get to know each other. I mean we've got to work together this year and who knows you might even like me once you get to know me"  
  
"I suppose there's no harm in talking" she replied. "What do you want to talk about?"  
  
"Tell me about your family" James suggested "I don't know anything about them apart from they're muggles"  
  
"Not much to tell really. There's my mum and dad, who are lovely. They are really proud of me even though they don't really understand most of what I do at school. I've got an older sister, Petunia, who I hate and she hates me so that's about the only thing we agree on. She's got this vile boyfriend called Vernon who is even more horrible than she is" Lily explained "What about you?"  
  
"Well, Mum and Dad are both pure bloods, both work as Aurors at the Ministry of Magic. Then there's Talitha. You know she lives with us since her parents died. Her mum was my dad's sister. So I guess she's about as near as a sister I have"  
  
"I can tell you're really close" Lily said. James nodded in agreement  
  
"So what sort of stuff are you into, you know music and stuff?" James asked  
  
"Mostly muggle bands so you won't have heard of them" Lily said "You?"  
  
"I listen to anything really. Sport is my thing really"  
  
"Quidditch?"  
  
"Yep, playing and watching. That's what I want to do when I leave Hogwarts…" James' voice trailed off as he heard something, he listened more carefully. He could hear it better now. Faint laughter. He stood up and opened the door that divided their carriage from the prefect's one. There he found Sirius and Talitha with their heads right up to where the door would have been. They had been listening at the door.  
  
"Having fun Prongsie" Sirius snorted  
  
"Get out the both of you" James yelled. They both laughed.  
  
"You," he continued looking at Sirius "aren't supposed to be in here. And you are a prefect and should know better" he glared at his cousin.  
  
"Oooo" Sirius said sarcastically.  
  
"I'm I going to have to give you detention before we even get to school"  
  
"Come on Sirius. Let's leave grumpy here alone" Talitha laughed as she grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him out of the door. James turned back into the carriage to find Lily laughing.  
  
"Well you certainly told them" she said "I was doubting that you had it in you to be head boy but threatening your cousin and your best friend with detention, definitely proves you're up to the job"  
  
James grinned, he hadn't meant what he had said to Sirius and Talitha. He only yelled at them because he was embarrassed but it had put him in Lily's good books so that was alright.  
  
They spent the rest of the journey chatting about anything and everything. They were interrupted a few times by one or another of the prefects asking a question and a couple of times by Sirius and Talitha, who were obviously just trying to annoy then. However James didn't shout at them again as it was partly due to them that Lily was talking to him like another human being.  
  
Eventually the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. James carried Lily's belongings out onto the platform for her and then went over to help some lost looking first years. Lily smiled as she watched him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. He was easy to talk to and helpful. He had even taken his Head boy responsibilities serious enough to tell his friends off.  
  
Most of the students had already set off towards the school in the carriages when James came back to her.  
  
"You go if you want" he said nodding towards the carriage containing her friends "I'll finish off here" Lily smiled at him and headed over to her friends  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lily sat down with her friends in the great hall to wait for the feast. She had told them all about her encounter with James Potter on the way from the station to the school. Freya and Bethany began to giggle. Lily turned her head slightly, just enough to see James and his friends arriving in the hall. As usual this in itself caused a minor commotion. James and Sirius were probably the cleverest and most good looking boys in the school. Now added to this was James being head boy. Girls giggled and blushed at the sight of them. It didn't matter that Sirius had been going out with Talitha for the last three years and that James had been so obsessed with Lily for the last two years that he hardly took any notice. Remus was also quite popular with the ladies due to his sensitive nature and intelligence. And his 'oh so cute' smile. Talitha was also with them and so a number of male heads also turned as they entered the room. None of them even noticed that so many people were looking at them, as they were deeply involved in there own conversation. They sat at the table a bit further down to where Lily and her friends were. Lily noticed that two other boys were also part of their group, but as usual didn't stand out from others. Peter Pettigrew a small, chubby boy who rarely held centre stage of the group and was generally seen tagging along behind either James, Sirius or Remus. The other boy was Mundungus Fletcher. Lily knew him because he was always in trouble, she had given up counting the number of detentions she had given him last year. He was generally only part of the group when Talitha was there as he was her best friend. They were all laughing now at something Sirius had said. Lily looked back to her own friends to find them all looking at her.  
  
"I think Lily's got a crush on someone" Freya giggled.  
  
"No I haven't" Lily protested "I might have changed my opinion of him slightly but I don't fancy…" She was cut off by a sudden burst of laughter from down the table. She looked up in time to see James and his friends all looking over at the Slytherin table and laughing. Severus Snape was lying on the floor next to the table.   
  
"Hey Snivelly!" Sirius yelled across the room, laughing "You want to watch where you're treading"  
  
'They can't have done something to him' Lily thought to herself. Out of the six of their group, there were two prefects and the head boy. Surely they wouldn't be playing practical jokes. Then again.  
  
Lily watched James throughout the Sorting ceremony. He was whispering to his friends and they all kept looking round at Snape. They were up to something. After the last student had been sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood up  
  
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts" He said "The feast will begin shortly but first I would like to introduce you to your new Head boy and Head girl, James Potter and Lily Evans." The students all clapped. Lily smiled shyly but noticed that James stood up and grinned around the hall before taking a bow and sitting back down again.  
  
Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands together and the plates started to fill up with food.  
  
Once they had all finished eating and the students started to leave Professor McGonagal came over to Lily after speaking to James and asked her to go up to Dumbledore's office. Lily nodded. She was just about to lean over to Freya and ask her to make sure the First years found their way to Gryffindor tower, when Talitha stood up.  
  
"Ok, first years. Follow me or Lupin here and we'll show you up to the dormitories" she said with a friendly smile. Lily grinned, although Talitha seemed to have a likeness for getting into trouble and playing pranks like the rest of her friends, like Remus she was good with responsibility.  
  
Lily watched as Talitha and Remus set off up to Gryffindor with a trail of first years behind them. Lily only hoped they wouldn't think it amusing to play some sort of trick on them. Sirius left with Mundungus and Peter not long after as did, Charlotte, Freya and Bethany. James sat at the table finishing his third helping of treacle sponge. Lily moved down the table and sat next to him.  
  
"Did McGonagal say what Dumbledore wanted us for?" She asked.  
  
"dunno" James mumbled through his mouth full of sponge. He swallowed  
  
"Come on let's go and find out. Probably just a routine thing"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
When Lily and James arrived in the common room later on, it was fairly empty, most of the students had gone to bed exhausted from the journey. A few students remained reading a book or finishing a game of wizard chest. Lily's friends had already gone up to the dorm. Sirius, Remus, Talitha and Mundungus sat around the fire chatting, or more likely plotting. James said goodnight to Lily as she made her way up to her dorm and went over to join them.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Soon James and his friends were the only students still out of the dorms. This was not unusual for them as it was a good time for planning their pranks. However, tonight mischief was not the topic, Lily Evans was.  
  
"I think I made a break though today" James told them all "She was actually talking to me instead of yelling at me"  
  
"Yeah but does that mean she fancies you" Sirius added.  
  
"Of course she does" Talitha told them "didn't you see her looking at you at the feast?"  
  
"Was she?" James asked. Talitha nodded and grinned  
  
"She was probably trying to catch you doing something you shouldn't" said Mundungus  
  
"No, she had this dreamy look in her eyes. She was looking at you as if you were the only person in the room"  
  
"Lots of girls look at him like that" Remus laughed. James yawned.  
  
"I think I'm going to bed" he said  
  
"You just want to dream about Lily" Sirius teased  
  
"Shut up" James said as he stood up. Peter followed him up to the dorm.  
  
"Yeah I'm goin' as well" added Mundungus  
  
"Night Dung" said Talitha  
  
"You coming up" Remus asked Sirius  
  
"In a bit" Sirius replied. Remus left Sirius and Talitha sitting on the sofa.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lily entered her dorm to find Freya, Charlotte and Bethany were all in their night clothes. Freya sat on her bed brushing her long dark hair, Charlotte was finishing off un-packing her things and Bethany was flicking through a magazine.  
  
"So back to what we were discussing at dinner" Freya said mischievously.  
  
"What was that?" Bethany asked  
  
"Lily and James Potter" Freya replied.  
  
"I told you. I don't fancy him"  
  
"So why do you keep looking at him" Charlotte giggled  
  
"I don't" Lily laughed  
  
"You were staring at him although dinner" Bethany told her  
  
"I was trying to work out what he was up to, he and his friends were planning something, I could tell" Lily tried to explain, not fully telling the truth. The conversation continued while they all finished getting ready for bed. However Lily did not admit to anything.  
  
"Sweet dreams about Potter" Freya said as Lily drew the drapes around her bed. Lily smiled to herself. Did she fancy James? She was starting to like him as a person more and he was good looking. 'Oh Merlins beard, I do, I fancy him' she thought to herself. She fell asleep a few minutes later with a smile on her face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: I think I'm going to carry this on later as anther short story 


	5. The Autumn Equinox Ball

Lily sat in Transfiguration class next to Freya. It was the second week of term and the lessons were beginning to get tough in preparation for the NEWT's. Lily was trying her best to concentrate on what Professor McGonagal was saying but she was still trying to get her head round her feelings for James Potter. Had he really changed so much, had he grown up over the summer or was it just that she had gotten to know him better in the last week. She was watching him as he sat a few desks in front of her. He was busily scribbling down notes as Professor McGonagal spoke. His left hand absent-mindedly ran through his hair while he did so. Lily had noticed that James always took interest in Transfiguration, it was one of the few lessons he rarely messed about in. At least until he had finished the set work. He sat next to Sirius who was staring out of the window looking slightly bored. Annoyingly Lily knew that even though Sirius never seemed to pay attention in class he always got good grades. Lily noticed Sirius grinning out of the window and looked out to see what he was looking at. The History of Magic classroom was across from them and Lily could see Mundungus and Talitha pulling faces out of the window at Sirius. She let out a small giggle and Sirius turned round and grinned at her. He nudged James who looked out of the window at his cousin, smiled as he shook his head and returned to his note taking.  
  
Lily tried hard to concentrate on the rest of the lesson but when Professor McGonagal set them a practical task, Lily found she had no idea how to do it. Freya explained it quickly to her before Professor McGonagal noticed but Lily promised herself that she wouldn't think about James again in lessons  
  
"What's up with you?" Freya asked her "You've been walking round in a daze since the beginning of term"  
  
"Nothing" Lily muttered, smiling as James transfigured a leaf into a quill at the first attempt.  
  
At the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagal asked Lily and James to stay behind. They waited as the rest of the students left the classroom.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore has suggested that we have an Autumn Equinox ball for the seventh years. As long as you two don't mind organising it. You can get some of the other prefects to help. It will be seventh years only, the students from the lower years may only attend if invited by a seventh year"  
  
Lily and James smiled at each other. This was going to be so much fun. Professor McGonagal dismissed them, saying that there would be an announcement made at dinner that night.  
  
As they walked down to the hall for lunch, Lily was already planning the ball in her mind. Decorations, music, refreshments there was a lot to do and they only had a few weeks. She hoped James would be willing to do his fair share.  
  
"Lily" James said sounding slightly nervous "I don't suppose you would go to this ball with me?"  
  
Lily's mind was racing. He had asked her to go to the ball and she knew she was his first choice because no body else knew about it yet. She desperately wanted to say yes but she had spent the last week trying to convince herself and her friends that she didn't fancy him. She then realised she must have been silent for too long as James started to speak again.  
  
"Ok, if you don't want to it doesn't matter. I'll easily find someone else" he said sounding a little hurt.  
  
"No, I mean, Yes, I will go with you. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to ask" Lily said smiling at him. He laughed.  
  
"Yes you were. I've asked you out about 48 times over the last year. It was obvious I would ask you again. You just weren't expecting me to do it quite so quickly"  
  
"Yeah ok, you're right" Lily laughed along with him "Looks like catching me unawares has worked in your favour though doesn't it"  
  
They had reached the hall by now and Lily headed off to sit with her friends. She sat down and watched as James walked casually along the Gryffindor table with the biggest smile on his face.   
  
James sat down next to Remus, the only one of his friends already at the table. Remus looked up from his book to see James grinning madly at him.  
  
"What are you looking so pleased about?" Remus asked, with a smile "You haven't been hexing Snape again have you?"  
  
"No, something much better than that" James grinned as he told Remus all about the forthcoming ball.  
  
"So I jumped in at the deep end and asked Lily to go with me" James said  
  
"She never said yes did she?" Remus asked in disbelief. James nodded.  
  
"The Potter charm has finally paid off". Remus looked along the table at Lily and grinned.  
  
Lily saw Remus looking at her and quickly turned away hoping that he hadn't seen her watching them.  
  
"Oh no, what have I done" she groaned and laughed at the same time.  
  
"Come on tell us" Charlotte prompted.  
  
"There's going to be a seventh year Autumn Equinox ball and I've just gone and told Potter I would go with him"  
  
"I knew you fancied him" Freya giggled  
  
Lily spent the whole of lunch watching what was going on at James' end of the table. The next to arrive was Talitha.  
  
"How boring was that lesson" Talitha stated to her friend Lauren as they entered the hall. "I could hardly keep my eyes open. You would think that History of Magic would be interesting but the way he teaches and his voice just drones on and on"   
  
Lauren, a tall girl with honey blonde hair, laughed loudly  
  
"I know and he doesn't even notice that we aren't listening. He never saw you and Dung messing about at the window"  
  
"Are you sitting with us" Talitha asked as they reached the Gryffindor table  
  
"Erm, oh no, Remus is there" Lauren replied as she looked to where the Marauders group usually sat  
  
"He won't bite" Talitha laughed. 'Not this week anyway' she added to herself.  
  
"No, it's just I get all embarrassed around him"  
  
"You fancy him don't you?"  
  
"Well he's really cute and funny and nice. You won't say anything will you" Lauren pleaded. Talitha shook her head  
  
"So come and sit with us then" She grabbed Lauren's hand and almost dragged her down to the other end of the table. They sat down across from Remus and James. Talitha grinned at Remus and Lauren poked her under the table as a warning not to say anything.  
  
"James asked Lily out again" Remus told them not noticing Talitha's grin.  
  
"What did she say this time?" Talitha smiled at her cousin "Did she hex you again?"  
  
"Actually she agreed" James said proudly.  
  
"Really?" Talitha and Lauren both giggled. Although they were a bit more subtle than Remus had been and didn't look over at Lily.  
  
"Yep, there's going to be a seventh year ball and Lily has agreed to be my partner"  
  
"Seventh year ball, that's not fair" Lauren said  
  
"If you can get a seventh year to invite you, you're allowed to go" James told them. Talitha smiled  
  
"So you'll be going then" Lauren said to her as she spotted Sirius coming through the door.  
  
"We'll just have to get someone to invite you as well won't we" Talitha said as she nudged Lauren and tried to point subtly at Remus by nodding her head at him. Remus must have noticed because he stared hard at his book and went a bit flushed in the face. Lauren blushed slightly as well as she glared at Talitha, willing her to keep quiet.  
  
"Invite you where?" Sirius asked as he arrived behind them. Talitha explained about the ball.  
  
"James'll take you won't he?" Sirius suggested as he sat down next to Talitha  
  
"He's already going with Lily"  
  
"And does Lily know about this" Sirius laughed  
  
"Yes" James replied "I asked her earlier and she said yes. Why wont anyone believe me"  
  
"Might have something to do with the last 48 times when she said no" Remus told him  
  
"Hey Evans!" Sirius yelled across the hall "Good to see you came to your senses at last"  
  
Lily's friends all started laughing and Lily smiled as she felt herself go red in the face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
The day of the ball came. It was a Saturday so there were no lessons during the day. Lily sat in the common room talking to Freya after lunch. She noticed a distinct lack of older Gryffindor girls about as they were all up in the dorms, washing and curling hair and such. All of the seventh years girls were going to the ball and the majority of the sixth years had managed to get themselves invited plus a few of the fifth years. Occasionally one of the girls would come out into the common room with hair curlers in or wet hair. James and his friends were no where in sight.  
  
Eventually Freya suggested they also should start getting ready and they headed up to their dorm. It looked like someone had let off a wet start firework in there. Make up, hair products and clothes were strewn about the place. In the middle of all the mess sat Bethany and Charlotte trying to fix curlers into Charlottes brown hair. With a quick flick of her wand Lily had the place looking relatively normal again.  
  
An hour or so later Lily had her hair and make up done, all she had to do was put on her dress robes. She had an hour before she had arranged to meet James and she didn't want to crease them so she had an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt on. She wandered out into the common room to see what was going on. It was almost empty as the younger students had gone down for an early dinner so the hall could be transformed for the ball. Lily was sititng reading a book when the portrait hole crashed open and a group of students came flying threw. Lily looked up, it was James and some of his friends, all wearing Quidditch robes.   
  
"Look at the state of me" Talitha was yelling "and I've only got half an hour to get ready now". Talitha was also wearing her Quidditch robes and was covered in mud, including her hair. James, Sirius and Remus ran off to the boys dorms.  
  
"What on earth happened to you?" Lily asked.  
  
"We were having a throw about outside and we lost track of time and to top it off I fell of my broom into the mud"  
  
"Come on I'll give you a hand, I've only got to get changed" Lily offered. They both headed up to Talitha's dorm. Lauren was already in there getting ready. The other two girls from the dorm were no where in sight. Lily assumed they hadn't been invited to the ball and were down at dinner. Talitha had a quick shower and got most of the mud out of her hair. Lily put a quick drying charm on it and helped her tie it up. Luckily a bit of mascara and a slick of lip gloss were all Talitha needed to make her look even prettier than usual. Lily and Lauren helped her into her silver dress robes and they all hurried into Lily's dorm so Lily could put on hers. Two minutes after they were all supposed to be meeting their dates and they were ready. They all started laughing with relief that Talitha had managed to get ready in time. Freya, Charlotte and Bethany had already left the dorm and had promised to meet Lily in the hall. The final three girls made their way into the common room. Every one else had left, just James, Sirius and Remus were waiting. Remus was blushing slightly as he walked over and took Lauren's arm. They both headed out of the common room. Lily and Talitha stood at the bottom of the stairs to the girls dorms. James and Sirius stood in the middle of the common room, mouths open, staring at them. Slowly smiles broke across their faces.  
  
"Hey, Jim. I didn't know we were going to the ball with a couple of Slytherins" Sirius grinned. Lily laughed as she realised her emerald green robes and Talitha's silver ones were Slytherin colours. Talitha walked over to Sirius who kissed her and then put his arm around her  
  
"See you down there, Prongs" Sirius said as they left.  
  
"Well what do you think?" Lily asked, giving James a twirl.  
  
"Amazing. That dress matches your eyes perfectly" he replied. As he kissed her on the cheek, Lily felt her whole body tingle.  
  
They walked through the school holding hands and they were last to arrive in the hall. It had been decorated to an autumn theme, at Lily's suggestion. Lily and James joined the table that Remus and Lauren were sitting at. Lily's friends were sitting at the next table with their dates. There was a live band up on the stage which James had arranged. The music had already started and a few of the students were up dancing. Lily was partly surprised that the music sounded remarkably similar to the popular muggle music of the time. It seemed that Disco was the thing in the wizard world as well.  
  
"Where's the other two?" James asked them.  
  
"Look" Lauren said with a laugh. Sirius and Talitha were in the centre of the dance floor, a number of people were watching them. Lily laughed, she had never thought of Sirius being a good dancer. She would have thought of him standing at the side looking cool.  
  
"Talitha taught him over the summer" James told her, laughing as well "You should have seen them the night we snuck out to a muggle nightclub"  
  
Sirius and Talitha had seen them come in and danced their way over to the table.   
  
"Come on Jim, come and show us your funky dance moves" Talitha said. Sirius pulled a small flask out of his pocket and took a quick drink before passing it to Talitha. Lily saw it but decided as long as they didn't get too drunk she wouldn't say anything. Talitha took a drink and passed it back. She grabbed James' arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.  
  
"You as well Lily" Sirius said as he put his hand on her shoulder and guided her over to where James and Talitha now were. Lily tried to protest but it was no good  
  
"I can't dance" she laughed  
  
"Rubbish, you've just got to let yourself go" Sirius shouted over the music. Lily let herself relax and went along with the music. She was relieved to see that James wasn't a brilliant dancer either. It made her relax more. As the next song started Lauren and Remus joined them. Remus very reluctantly as he was a bit embarrassed although now a lot more students were on the dance floor he didn't feel quite as self conscious. A few sips from Sirius' flask helped as well.  
  
After about half an hour of dancing, the girls returned to the table while the boys went to get some drinks. Lily noticed that her friends had also started dancing, although nowhere near as exuberantly as they had been.  
  
"Merlin's beard, it's hot in here" Lauren said as she flopped into a chair.  
  
Lily and Talitha sat down as well.  
  
"So, how's it going with James?" Talitha asked Lily. Lily smiled  
  
"He was so sweet on the way down here" she said "and I'm having so much fun. I would never have thought I would have enjoyed spending time with him but now…" she trailed off as the boys were getting closer.  
  
"I think we're here with the three most wanted males" Lauren laughed as at least four girls stopped the marauders on their way back to try and get them to dance with them. The boys arrived back with six bottles of Butterbeer.  
  
"Would you believe Snape's actually got a girl to come with him?" Sirius laughed  
  
"Who?" Talitha replied  
  
"Don't know her name, a fifth year Slytherin"   
  
"Probably only so she could come then" Talitha said.  
  
"She's really ugly as well" James added  
  
"James, that's a horrible thing to say" Lauren said  
  
"Well she is, you didn't see her" James laughed.   
  
After finishing their drinks Sirius and Talitha went back to dancing.  
  
"Do you fancy going for a walk" Lauren asked Remus "I could do with some fresh air"  
  
"Yeah ok" Remus replied. They got up and wandered out into the grounds.  
  
"You know I could do with some air as well" James suggested. He put his arm around Lily as they walked across the hall. They both laughed as they saw Talitha trying to get Hagrid to dance.  
  
"She's mental" Lily laughed once they were outside  
  
"Life and Soul of the party, that's Tali" James grinned. "It's a family trait. We Potters love to be the centre of attention"  
  
"Yeah I had noticed"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Remus and Lauren were walking in the grounds, holding hands. Remus couldn't believe his luck. Lauren was really pretty and he had liked her for a while now. And she had actually agreed to come to the ball with him and now they were out here alone, holding hands. They came to a stop and as the moment took over him Remus leaned in and kissed her. She responded and kissed him back. Suddenly, Lauren pulled away.   
  
"What's wrong" Remus asked softly  
  
"Did you hear that?" she said quietly  
  
"No, what?" It was unusual for Remus not to hear something, he had exceptionally good hearing due to his animal nature.  
  
"Listen"  
  
Remus stood quietly until he heard it as well. He could hear someone shouting  
  
"No leave her alone" the voice shouted.  
  
"That was James" Remus said, sounding slightly worried "It came from over there" he added, pointing towards the forbidden forest.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
James and Lily were standing at the edge of the forest chatting. They were looking over at the view of the lake. James had his arm around Lily's waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. They were both distracted and didn't hear a scuffling noise behind them. James heard someone speak and looked round just in time to see the red sparks of a stunning spell hit Lily and she fell to the ground.  
  
"You're coming with us Potter" Lucius Malfoy told him. Rodolphus Lestrange stood next to him. James hadn't seen them since they left Hogwarts a few years before but he knew that they had joined the Dark Lord.  
  
"Lord Voldemort will be pleased with us when we bring you to him" Lestrange added  
  
"What does he want with me?" James asked  
  
"You'll find out soon enough" Malfoy replied "I think we'll take the mudblood as well"  
  
"No leave her alone" James yelled.  
  
"Listen to that, Potter wants us to save his dirty mudblood girlfriend" Lestrange laughed as he took hold of Lily's arm. Malfoy grabbed James and the two death eaters crossed over the grounds with their prisoners  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"What are we going to do?" Lauren asked nervously  
  
"You go and get one of the professors" Remus told her as he pulled out his wand. Lauren ran as fast as she could back to the castle. Remus ran towards the forest.  
  
Sirius and Talitha were outside the main door as Lauren got there.  
  
"Lauren what's happened" Talitha asked  
  
"We think James and Lily are in trouble" she said and told them what they had heard. Sirius and Talitha had their wands out before she had finished.  
  
"Get Dumbledore" Sirius told her and they too ran off. They caught up with Remus who was standing at the edge of the forest  
  
"Did you find anything?" Sirius asked.  
  
"The whomping willow" he said quietly. "I didn't see who it was but I saw two people being dragged down the tunnel. They knew it was there and how it worked"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Malfoy fought with James all the way along the tunnel. He had been ordered not to stun him unless absolutely necessary. James was struggling and trying to kick or punch Malfoy. He could see Lestrange in front of him dragging Lily along. How had they known about the whomping willow and the tunnel? Some one must have told them.  
  
They emerged in to the shrieking shack. Still holding onto their respective prisoner, Malfoy and Lestrange apperated. James felt himself jerk forward and his feet lifted from the ground. His body felt as if was spinning.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Right, let's go then" Sirius said and the three of them set off to the whomping willow. Remus found a stick and they managed to press the knot. They could have done with Peter to do this but they didn't know where he was and it would take to much time to find him. They all clambered down the hole and began running along the tunnel. They all had there wands out ready, unsure of what they were to find at the other end of the tunnel. Sirius climbed out first, they all looked round the room. Everything looked as normal. Remus ran upstairs but again nothing out of the ordinary. The door to outside was bolted from the inside so they knew no one had gone out that way.  
  
"We better get back and tell Dumbledore" Remus suggested and they all climbed back into the tunnel.  
  
"I'll go ahead" Sirius told them and he transformed into a big black dog and ran down the tunnel.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
James landed with a thud on the floor as Malfoy pushed him down. He saw Lily still stunned lying near him. He looked up to find Voldemort standing over him. They were in what appeared to be an old disused warehouse. Behind Voldemort stood four more death eaters. Malfoy and Lestrange stood to one side.  
  
"We have brought him to you Master" Malfoy said proudly.  
  
"Quiet" Voldemort told him as he walked in a circle around James and Lily. He stopped once he was back in front of the death eaters. James looked him straight in the eye.  
  
"What do you want me for?" He asked, sounding much braver than he felt.  
  
"You are a powerful wizard Potter, I could use someone like you" Voldemort told him  
  
"You want me to join you?" James couldn't help himself laughing.  
  
"We could achieve great things together" Voldemort continued, seeming slightly uncomfortable that this young boy was laughing at the Dark Lord.  
  
"Me? Why me" James replied.  
  
"Surely you know who you are? Who your ancestor was?" Voldemort said. James stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about.  
  
"Two of the greatest wizard in history were Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin" Voldemort told James as if he was giving a history of magic lessons "I am the heir of Slytherin and so possess many of his powers. One thing I have always planned to do is to join forces with an heir of Gryffindor. This left me with four options. Four people that were ancestors of Godric Gryffindor. All members of your family. Unfortunately for her, Kate McKenzie, your aunt, was unwilling to co-operate with me"  
  
"You killed her" James yelled.  
  
"Not personally" Voldemort replied, before continuing "And it seems unlikely that your father will join me. So that leaves you and your half-blood cousin, making you the preferred choice"  
  
"I'm the heir of Godric Gryffindor" James said in disbelieve.  
  
"Together the two heirs can achieve great things"   
  
"I will never join you" James yelled  
  
"Crucio!" Voldemort yelled back. James thought he was going to die there and then as the intense pain hit him, In fact he would have been quite happy to die as that would have ended the pain.  
  
"Maybe you need a little time to think about my proposition" Voldemort said as he turned away from James. Two of the Death Eaters walked over and pulled him to his feet. They dragged him towards a door.  
  
"Put the mudblood with him. I'll deal with her later" Voldemort told them. James was thrown into a small side room. Lily was thrown in after him. James sat on the floor, his mind racing with what he had just heard. The only good part he could grasp from it was that Voldemort wanted him so it was unlikely he would be killed, at least not straight away. He had some time to play with. He was unsure about Lily though, he had a bad feeling Voldemort wouldn't be quite so tolerant with her. James pulled out his wand, glad he still had it with him, Voldemort wasn't as thorough about taking prisoners as he was thought to be. Likely, Malfoy and Lestrange would be in big trouble when Voldemort found out they had not disarmed James.  
  
"Enervate" He said quietly, not sure if any one would be listening. Lily started to come round from the stunning spell. She looked around in confusion. The last thing she remembered was being in the Hogwarts grounds chatting to James. Now she was in a small, dark damp room.   
  
"Sssshh" James said to her before she had chance to speak  
  
"Where are we?" Lily whispered "What happened?" James explained what had happened since Lily as stunned.  
  
"And you-know-who wants you to join him" She repeated once he had finished. James nodded.  
  
"We've got to get out of here" James said trying to think of a plan.  
  
"How did we get here?" Lily asked him.  
  
"Malfoy and Lestrange apperated with us. It's possible to transport someone when apperating but not many people learn how to do it. Normally it's only Aurors who do it. My dad can" James explained.   
  
"So it seems the death eaters can as well" Lily said.  
  
"Hey, if they can apperate here then that means there's no anti-apperating charm activated" James said.  
  
"And"  
  
"Can you apperate?" James asked her.  
  
"No, I'm not of age yet. I've been reading how to but I've never done it. Can you?"   
  
"Well, I'm not of age either but I think I know how"  
  
"But we aren't allowed and we could get it wrong and end up any where"  
  
"Lily, anywhere would be better than here right now and I think if it's a choice between getting in trouble and what Voldemort has planned for us then, I'll take my chances on getting in trouble"  
  
"Ok" Lily agreed "it's worth a try"  
  
"Right, try and aim that field outside of the school ground. Nice big open space and there shouldn't be any people around. Less chance of hitting something" James said. "You go first"  
  
Lily mustered up all of her energy and concentration and then disappeared with a loud crack. James smiled slightly. At least she was out of there away from Voldemort. He ran quickly through in his head what he had to do and then Crack.  
  
He found himself in the middle of the field.  
  
"Lily!" He shouted, no answer. "Lily"  
  
Once he had come to the conclusion that Lily wasn't around he quickly headed towards the school, shouting Lily as he did so.  
  
"LILY!" he called as he entered the school grounds  
  
"JAMES! Is that you" Sirius yelled back. James looked round and saw his best friend running towards him from the direction of the whomping willow.  
  
"What happened" Sirius asked "Remus said he heard you shouting and then saw you being dragged away"  
  
"I've got to find Dumbledore" James said "I'll explain later. You've got to look for Lily. She should be around here somewhere"  
  
"Ok mate" Sirius said as James ran off towards the castle.  
  
James met Dumbledore and Lauren hurrying out of the castle. He explained everything quickly to him.  
  
"We've got to find Lily" James said after he had finished the story. They all continued out into the grounds and were relieved when they saw Sirius, Remus and Talitha walking towards them with Lily, following behind. 


	6. Talitha's first day

The Marauders second year. Some of this is in "Harry Potter and the Death Eaters" but I thought I would continue it a bit  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A young boy and a young girl stood on platform 9 ¾, the boy was about a year older than the girl. Both had hazel eyes and very dark hair which was very untidy. Not for the lack of trying as the woman standing next to them kept trying to flatten down the wild hair with her hand.  
  
The two children were watching a man loading to very large trunks onto the train which stood at the platform.  
  
"James, make sure you look after her" the woman said to them "and Talitha, you behave yourself at school" The two children nodded. It was Talitha's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James was returning for his second year.  
  
"Potter, up here" a voice called. Further along the train another dark haired boy was leaning out of one of the trains windows and waving towards them.   
  
"There's Sirius we'll go and sit up there" James said to Talitha.  
  
James and Talitha climbed into the carriage containing Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.  
  
"Alright" Sirius grinned at Talitha. Sirius had spent a week during the summer at James' house so he already knew her. Talitha grinned back at him.  
  
"This is my cousin Talitha" James said to Remus and Peter. They both smiled at her and Remus held out a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans to her.  
  
"No thanks" she laughed "I don't trust those. You never know what you might get. I got a foot flavoured one once. It was horrible"  
  
"Did you bring you're broom with you?" James asked the other boys.  
  
"I did" Sirius replied excitedly "Cleansweep 5, the latest model"  
  
"Really! I've got a Nimbus 1000. I wanted the latest model but mum said that this ones only a year old so I can't have a new one yet"  
  
"I've only got a Comet 200. It's dead slow" said Remus. The boys continued to talk about Quidditch and whether they would get into the house team this year. After about five minutes young Talitha stood up.  
  
"I'm fed up of listening to you lot, I'm going to see if I can find anyone else to talk to" she said as she left the carriage. She wandered through the carriages. The first two she passed through were full of older students so she carried on. In the third carriage she came across a small, scruffy looking boy with dark blonde hair.   
  
"Alright if I sit here" Talitha said to him. He nodded "I'm Talitha McKenzie"  
  
"Mundungus Fletcher" he said "call me Dung though. Is it your first year as well?"   
  
"Yeah" Talitha nodded "I was sitting with my cousin and his friends but they were boring. Do you have any brothers or sisters at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I've got a brother in the sixth year." Dung answered. Talitha looked round as a thin, pale-faced looking boy with dark greasy hair came into the carriage and sat down without even looking at them. He pulled out a book and began reading.  
  
"Which house do you think you'll be in?" Dung continued "I hope I get in Gryffindor, my dad was. My mum was in Ravenclaw so that would be ok"  
  
"Yeah, I want to be in Gryffindor too, my cousin is and my mum was"  
  
"What about your dad? Dung asked  
  
"Oh he didn't go to Hogwarts. He was a muggle, he and my mum died about four years ago" she answered. The other boy looked up from his book and glared at Talitha. She saw him and glared back.  
  
"What's your problem?" she demanded.  
  
"Your dad was a muggle?" the boy asked.  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"We don't need your sort at Hogwarts" he sneered  
  
"What do you mean by my sort?"  
  
"Dirty half-breeds, nearly as bad as them letting in mud-bloods"  
  
"How dare you call me that!" Talitha yelled as she jumped to her feet "Take it back!"   
  
"I will not, I meant every word" yelled the boy also standing up. He pulled out his wand as he did so. Talitha continued yelling as she reached for her wand. Not that it would be much use to her seeing as though the nearest thing she had managed to magic so far was making purple sparks come out of her wand. Very nice to look at but not actually much use.  
  
Back in the other carriage the four boys stopped talking as they heard yelling coming from further down the train  
  
"That's Tali" James said as he jumped up and pulled his wand out. Sirius had also jumped up. The two boys ran down the train through the carriages. Remus was following not far behind. By the time they got to the carriage, Sirius was in front of James.  
  
"Snape" James muttered to himself when he saw the greasy haired boy who was just about to hex Talitha when Sirius raised his wand and yelled.   
  
"Expelliarmus" Snape's wand flew out of his hand, Snape tried to grab it back.   
  
"Impedimenta" Sirius yelled again and Snape fell to the ground.  
  
"What happened?" James asked. Talitha told him.  
  
"You! Snivellus!" James yelled at Snape "Leave my cousin alone or you'll have me to answer to"  
  
"Yeah, ignorant pig" Talitha added.  
  
"Come on Tali, you come and sit with us away from this idiot"  
  
"Come on Dung" Talitha said and they all but Snape left the carriage. James turned and hit Snape with a jelly legs jinx as he walked away.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
They returned back to the carriage. James sat down next to Peter, who hadn't moved. Sirius and Remus took the seats across from him. Talitha sat herself between them and smiled at Sirius.  
  
"Thanks for that" she said to him still smiling "Maybe you could teach me some hexes and then I'll be able to handle it myself next time"  
  
"Erm…yeah…maybe" Sirius replied with a confused expression on his face. He pulled a magazine out of his bag. Talitha leaned over to look at it.  
  
"Oooo! Puddlemere United. They're my favourite Quidditch team" she said.  
  
"No they aren't" James interrupted  
  
"Yes they are"  
  
"Since when were you into Quidditch?" James asked "You like that crappy muggle sport, football"  
  
"I can like both can't I"  
  
"No"  
  
Talitha stuck her foot out and kicked James in the shin.  
  
"Ow, pack it in" James shouted "I thought you'd be more grateful after we just saved you from Snivelly"  
  
"Sirius was the one who stopped him" Talitha replied, grinning back at Sirius, who was being unusually quiet. Normally, he would be showing off after 'rescuing' someone but for some reason all of Talitha's praise was making him feel slightly embarrassed. Luckily they were interrupted buy the arrival of the food trolley  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
The four second year boys sat at the Gryffindor house table in the great hall  
  
"I hope the Sorting's quick" said Peter "I'm starving"  
  
"You're always hungry" James replied  
  
"Hey, James. I think your cousin's taken a liking to Sirius" Remus grinned. James laughed  
  
"Merlin help him if she has."  
  
"Shut up!" Sirius told them, defensively "She was just grateful that's all. She would have been the same if Moony had got there first"  
  
"Wooo! I think Sirius likes her as well" James laughed again.  
  
"Get lost Potter"  
  
Professor McGonagol entered the room with the new first years following her and the Sorting began. The boys didn't really pay any attention to which students were going where until Mundungus Fletcher came and sat down next to Remus. They congratulated him and went back to whispering to each other.  
  
"Mckenzie, Talitha" Professor McGonagol called. The boys all looked up. Talitha walked confidently up to the stool, sat down and placed the hat on her head.  
  
"Ah, another member of the Potter family so it will have to be GRYFFINDOR" Talitha jumped up and took the hat off. She ran over to the Gryffindor table where the students were all cheering and sat herself between James and Sirius. 


	7. Sirius's birthday

A/n - Ok this one is kind of erm 'graphic' so don't read it if it might offend you!  
  
Dragons princess - I might do that idea you suggested. Thanks  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Late one night in Gryffindor Tower, Sirius Black lay in his bed wide awake. He could just hear his best friend James Potter snoring softly from the bed next to him. He glanced around at his clock and watched as it changed to midnight. He smiled to himself, it was now his sixteenth birthday. He heard a noise on the other side of the dorm but thought to himself that it was probably just one of his friends turning over or something. Listening again he heard some very quiet footsteps.  
  
'Probably just Moony getting up to read a book' he thought. The footsteps stopped and one of the drapes around his bed moved slightly. He squinted to see what it was.  
  
"Sirius" a voice whispered.  
  
"Tali?" he said quietly  
  
"Sssshhh" The drape moved a bit more, letting in a bit of light. He saw his girlfriend, Talitha McKenzie, standing there wearing a very short, scarlet red silky nightdress. Her long dark hair was framing her face.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" He whispered as he moved onto his side so he could see her better. She grinned and then slipped under the bed covers with him, letting the drapes fall back into place.  
  
Sirius wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Talitha realised he was only wearing boxer shorts. Sirius inhaled deeply, taking in her scent.  
  
"Just come to say Happy Birthday" she said with a smile  
  
"You saucy little minx" Sirius smiled. Their lips touched and they started kissing passionately. Sirius let out a soft groan.  
  
"Sssshhh, James will kill us if he knows I'm here" Talitha whispered, thinking of her cousin's reaction if he woke up and heard them. Sirius grinned and then started kissing Talitha's neck. She ran her hands through his hair. He shivered as her fingers lightly touch the back of his neck. His lips moved up towards her ear and he gently started nibbling on it. His hand moved down to her lower back and pulled her body close up against his. Talitha started to giggle as she felt how excited he was. Sirius kissed her deeply to muffle the noise. She ran her hands over his muscular body as his hand moved around from her back and up her stomach to her breasts.   
  
Sirius rolled over so he was lying on his back and pulled Talitha on top of him. Slowly he pulled up her nightdress and lifted it over her head. His hand ran over the silky soft skin of her back. They turned again, now Sirius was lying over Talitha. He started to kiss down her neck and continued until he reached her now naked breasts. He ran his tongue over them and kissed them gently. His hands pulled at her knickers as he continued to kiss and lick her nipples. Talitha wriggled out of them. Sirius' mouth moved slowly down over her flat stomach, further and further he went. Talitha let out a small gasp as he reached his destination. She bit her lip to stop herself from shouting out as his tongue flicked backwards and forwards. His finger took over as his mouth kissed its way back up her body to meet her mouth. Talitha tugged at his boxers until she had removed them and then took hold of him, stroking him gently.   
  
"Happy birthday" Talitha whispered with a small giggle. Sirius kissed her as he gazed deep into her eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"Moony! Shut the fuck up!" James yelled, sleepily. Sirius woke with a jump. Talitha was lying in his arms, her head resting on his chest. He shook her gently and was relieved that she didn't speak as she opened her eyes.  
  
"It's morning" he whispered "and James is awake"  
  
"Shit"  
  
Sirius pulled the drape back very slightly just enough for him to peek out. James's drapes were still drawn round his bed. Sirius was partly relieved to find out that James was at least still in bed. He moved the drapes at the other side of the bed.  
  
"Moony" he said in a loud whisper. Remus Lupin glanced round at him. Sirius put his finger up to his lips to ask him not to speak. Remus quietly walked over to Sirius's bed.  
  
"Get James out of the dorm" Sirius whispered urgently "Tali's here"  
  
Talitha peeked out of the drapes and grinned at Remus.  
  
"You're so dead if he finds out" Remus whispered back to them, smiling. He turned and made his way round to James' bed.  
  
"Hey Prongs, Sirius is still asleep. Let's all go down to breakfast and he'll think we've forgotten his birthday." They heard him say.  
  
"Excellent idea Moony!" James laughed as he jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. As soon as they heard the other three boys leave the dorm they both jumped up.  
  
"Shit, I can't go through the common room just wearing this" Talitha said, looking down at Sirius' Puddlemere United t-shirt that she was wearing.  
  
"Or this" Sirius grinned holding up her nightdress. He rummaged through his trunk and pulled out one of his old school robes.  
  
"You'll have to put this on. It's a bit smaller than my newer ones" he said as he passed it her. Talitha pulled it on and tried, unsuccessfully, to make it look like it fitted her properly. Remus stuck his head back in the door.  
  
"He's gone down to breakfast" he told them.  
  
"Thanks Moony" Talitha replied "We owe you big time"  
  
"What on earth were you thinking? He'd have gone mental" Remus laughed.  
  
"I was supposed to have gone before he woke up but I must have fallen asleep" Talitha explained. She followed Remus out of the boys dorm trying her best to look like she hadn't spent the night in there. She quickly walked over to the girls' dorms and hurried to get dressed into her own school robes. She arrived back in the common room to find Sirius waiting for her and Remus had disappeared. Sirius grinned at her as he leant over to kiss her.  
  
"That was a bit to close" he laughed as he took her hand and led her out of the common room. 


	8. The Escaped Prisoner

A/N - this is set the same year as Prisoner of Azkaban. Different view point  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Foot steps and voices echoed along the corridor and came to a stop outside of the door. Sirius Black snapped out of the memories that haunted his every waking hour and most of his sleeping ones as well. Memories of Halloween 1981.   
  
He glanced up from where he sat hunched on the floor as the door swung open. It wasn't meal time so he wondered what it could be. He was slightly surprised to see a man standing in the door way as opposed to one of the guards. Sirius recognised him as Cornelius Fudge, who had been there the day Sirius had been arrested. Sirius remembered hearing that he was now Minister for Magic. No doubt he had come to get a glimpse of Azkaban's most notorious prisoner as he inspected the prison.  
  
Fudge remained in the door way staring at Sirius as if he were an animal in a zoo. Sirius stared back at him through the darkness and held eye contact until Fudge looked away.  
  
"Morning" Sirius muttered. It was a relief to have something to take his mind away from things. A few brief words of another human being could sustain him for a short time.  
  
"Erm… Morning Black" The Minister replied, a little hesitantly. He had received nothing more than a grunt from the other prisoners he had visited and then only when he had spoken first. Never had one of the prisoners spoken to him first.   
  
"Nice weather we're having" he continued only realising what he had said once it was too late.  
  
"I wouldn't know" Sirius replied shortly.  
  
"Yes well…" Fudge fiddled uncomfortably with the newspaper that was in his hand as Sirius continued to stare at him.  
  
"Could I have that if you've finished with it" Sirius asked, nodding at the newspaper. Fudge looked down at it, folded it in half and passed it at arms length to the prisoner. Sirius reached out and took it.  
  
"I miss doing the crossword" he told fudge, who looked a little disconcerted. Sirius realised that Fudge was probably wondering why he wasn't as broken as the other prisoners. Sirius often wondered this himself when he lay awake at night listening to the screams and shouts coming from the other cells. He knew the Dementors affected him as his head was filled with unhappy memories, although after everything that had happened this would have probably been the case with or without Dementors, but something had stopped him from losing his mind completely. He desperately clung onto the fact that he was innocent, so he assumed it was this that helped him stay sane, that and being able to transform into a dog. Sirius forced a slight smile onto his face. If Fudge thought he hadn't been affected by the dementors, let him think that, Sirius didn't care. The newspaper would keep his mind from that dreadful night for a short while.  
  
Once the cell door had been slammed shut again, Sirius pulled himself from the floor and sat on the edge of the small rickety bed, which was actually no more comfortable than the floor. Leaning back against the cold wall he opened out the newspaper. He quickly glanced over the back sports page out of habit before realising he had no idea what was happening in Quidditch anyway.  
  
He flipped over to the front page and read   
  
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE  
  
His eyes scanned over the picture of the family of nine, the Weasleys, distant cousins of his. Sirius glanced briefly through the story, pausing momentarily when it mentioned the Weasley children returning to Hogwarts. He had completely lost track of time in Azkaban but was sure Harry would be old enough to be at school. He looked up at the date on the newspaper. Three days before Harry's thirteenth birthday. Sirius felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He had missed twelve of Harry's birthdays, James and Lily had missed them too. He could only hope that Harry would have a good birthday regardless. He shook himself out of that thought and looked back at the photograph  
  
His eyes rested at a boy who must be about the same age as Harry. For a few seconds he couldn't believe what he saw, a rat sitting on the boys shoulder. A very familiar looking rat, with part of his front paw missing.  
  
"Peter" Sirius whispered to himself. His eyes darted back up to the text and scanned through it  
  
'returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts'  
  
Panic set in Sirius's mind as he paced up and down the tiny cell. Wormtail was at Hogwarts, where Harry was, waiting for news of the Dark Lords return. Waiting for the opportunity of presenting Harry to him. He had to do something about it, he had to let somebody know. Sirius could only think of two people who would believe him. Remus would not agree to come and visit him he knew that and Talitha, well he didn't know where she was and it would be too much of a risk for her to visit. If word got out that she had been she would most probably end up in here herself. He slumped down on the bed and drew his knees up to his chest. He owed it to Harry to save him from Wormtail but how?  
  
Sirius thought of nothing else for the next few days, it turned into an obsession. He felt himself getting stronger, fuelled by his determination. He wasn't sure exactly how long it was before he hit on an idea as he watched the Dementors bring his food. The door was wide open for a good amount of time before it was closed again. Before his next meal arrived he transformed into a dog. He had nothing to lose, he would be here for the rest of his life anyway and if he didn't try it would destroy him anyway.  
  
The door opened and silently the big black dog crept though it and slipped easily through some bars. He continued on through the fortress, walking slowly as to not make any noise, all the time wanting to run for freedom. The sunlight dazzled him as his slipped outside and he breathed in his first fresh air for twelve years.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Remus Lupin sat down in his favourite old armchair and sighed. Would his life never be simple? He picked up his cup of tea and took a large gulp.  
  
"Hey Moony, I'm home" He heard a voice call out. He looked round at the fire place and almost spat out his tea when he saw a face in the flames.  
  
"Talitha, where on earth are you? What are you doing?" He asked the woman whose head was floating in his fire.  
  
"I'm at the flat, where do you think? I just got back a few minutes ago" She asked sounding puzzled.  
  
"You haven't heard have you?" Remus enquired  
  
"Heard what? You aren't exactly making sense at the moment" she replied.  
  
"Hang on, I'll be there in one minute" Things were just getting better and better. He picked up the newspaper that was lying on the table, grabbed a hand full of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. Falling out of the fireplace at his destination, he glanced round. It had been years since he had been here. The room was dark and dusty but other than that it was exactly how he remembered it. He smiled briefly remembering some of the good times he had seen there and then shuddered as he thought of the man who had lived there.  
  
"Remus, is that you?" the same voice as before called from the kitchen. Remus looked over as the woman appeared at the door. He smiled at her weakly. How on earth was he going to tell her? This was the girl who he had come to think of almost as a sister. She had already had so many bad things happen in her life, he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to tell her what had happened the previous day. Especially as this had been the cause of them not speaking for months a few years back. Twelve years to be exact. It had taken them years to get back to normal and even now they had only just started to trust each other completely again. They still had wildly different opinions on the matter but had now agreed to disagree and no longer discussed it.  
  
"Hey" he said quietly  
  
"What was all that cryptic nonsense about?" Talitha asked him "What's happened?"  
  
"First, just tell me why your back" Remus said, cautiously "I need to know before I tell you anything"  
  
"Harry" she said with a small smile "I thought today might be a good time to go and meet him. I wanted to go on his birthday but I couldn't get back until now"  
  
"No, you can't now" Remus said, his voice trembling slightly with panic "That would be one of the worst things you could do"  
  
"Are you going to tell me then?" Talitha asked, starting to get a bit agitated.  
  
"Read this" Remus told her, passing her the half folded newspaper that he had brought from his house. Talitha took it from him and sat on the arm of the sofa as she began reading  
  
'A report from the Ministry of Magic has confirmed that a prisoner has escaped from the highly secure Azkaban Fortress. Until now there has never been a break out from the prison and surprisingly, the escapee was one of the most heavily guarded in the entire fortress. The guards of Azkaban and the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, have been said to have no idea how Sirius Black has managed this impossible feat.  
  
Black was imprisoned twelve years ago after killing twelve muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew, the day after the down fall of You-know-who. He is thought to be one of the Dark Lords most ardent followers. The worry is now that his escape may be an attempt to bring You-know-who back to power'  
  
Talitha glanced up from the newspaper to find Remus looking at her expectantly waiting for her response. She didn't speak but stood up and paced the room as she reread the first part of the article. Her mind was racing and her heart had skipped a beat when she had read Sirius Black the first time. He was free. However, the second time she read it, panic set in. They were bound to catch him and who knows what would happen to him them.   
  
"Why now" she said quietly not really expecting an answer from Remus.  
  
"They say he's been talking in his sleep" Remus began "Keeps repeating the same thing over and over. 'He's at Hogwarts.' Fudge thinks he's going after Harry"  
  
"He would never harm Harry, just as he would have never betrayed James. You know what my opinion on that is Remus"  
  
"Ok, let's not start that argument again"  
  
Talitha looked back at the newspaper and continued reading where she had left off.  
  
'A source from the Magical Law Inforcement department has been quoted as saying  
  
"The guards from Azkaban are working along side the Elite Aurors and our best Hit wizards to recapture and detain the very dangerous Black'  
  
"Best Aurors and Hit wizards" Talitha said with a slight smile "Not exactly true is it. Sirius was the best Hit wizard they ever had and I'm standing here reading about it for the first time in the newspaper"  
  
"They were hardly going send you after him were they" Remus replied  
  
"No, but they could have at least told me"  
  
"My guess is that they are out looking to see if he was with you"  
  
"You think? But Sirius doesn't even know where I am, how would he be with me? In any case he wouldn't be that dumb"  
  
"Who knows what he's thinking at the moment."  
  
Talitha turned the newspaper over to read the rest of the article. Her eyes widened in shock and the colour drained from her face when she saw the picture that had been printed. She stared at his sunken face and bony shoulders. Talitha was used to seeing prisoners from Azkaban so the sight of Sirius shouldn't have been a shock to her really.  
  
"Oh Sirius" she muttered to herself. It almost broke her heart to see him like that. She stared at the picture, looking at his eyes. There was something, she wasn't sure what, not quite like the other prisoners she had seen. There was a slight glint in them, like Azkaban hadn't broken him. She'd never seen that before.  
  
"Harry" Talitha said suddenly "That's where he'll be"  
  
"What? You said he wouldn't harm Harry"  
  
"No he wouldn't" Talitha insisted "But it was Harry's birthday the day he escaped. He'll be there I just know it. I've got to go and find him Remus, before someone else does"   
  
"Do you think that's a good idea, Tali? Let's just assume for a minute that there is the slightest chance you might be wrong about Sirius. If he really is with Voldemort then who knows what he'll do to you if you find him. You know why Voldemort went after James and Harry, you would have been next. You're an heir of Gryffindor too. What better way is there for him to prove his loyalty to the Dark lord than bringing you to him?"  
  
"You think I haven't thought about that." Talitha said raising her voice "You think it doesn't keep me awake every night. I've thought of that a million times but I trust him Remus"  
  
"James trusted him as well" Remus replied calmly  
  
"Exactly, I trust him and James trusted him, why isn't that enough for you?"  
  
"The evidence is against him"  
  
"There is no evidence. Sirius wasn't the secret keeper. He told me" Talitha yelled  
  
"Yes, he told you." Said Remus, still calm "That could have been just a cover up. He never told you who was"  
  
"I don't even know if he knew who it was. That's the point of a secret keeper. It's a secret, you don't go round telling everyone"  
  
"So why did he kill Peter"  
  
"I don't know, maybe he was just defending himself after Peter confronted him. We were all upset, who knows what Peter might have done to him first. Imagine what you would have done if you had found him that day"  
  
"It just doesn't make sense" Remus said  
  
"I've got to at least talk to him and find out for myself." Talitha told him, her voice quieter now "Trust me, if I suspect him at all, I'll take him to Azkaban myself"  
  
Remus didn't answer  
  
"You trust me don't you" Talitha asked cautiously. Remus smiled at her.  
  
"I trust that you haven't got anything to do with Voldemort, I just don't trust your judgement of Sirius. Promise me you won't do any thing stupid ok and don't get seen. It'll look extremely suspicious that you're back in the country just after Sirius escapes. Wear your invisibility cloak"  
  
"Ok" Talitha replied, as she smiled at him. She pulled her invisibility cloak out of her bag. "I'll be careful"  
  
"You'll come straight back to my house won't you so I know what's happened" Remus asked her as she threw the cloak over herself.  
  
"Yeah course. I'll see you later."  
  
Crack  
  
Remus was alone in his one time best friends flat. He walked over to the fire place to return home when his eye caught a photograph on the fire surround. He picked it up and looked at it.  
  
"If you do anything to her, I'll personally hunt you down" he said out loud to the picture.  
  
Talitha arrived at the end of Privet Drive. She checked that she was still covered by the invisibility cloak and made her way along the street to number four. She sat down on a small wall across from the house and waited. It was starting to get dark now, if Sirius was around he would wait until dark to come out. Talitha felt her stomach churning, not sure whether it was the excitement of possibly seeing Sirius or Harry that was causing it.  
  
A light was switched on in the living room at number four. A thought flicked through Talitha's mind. Slowly, so as not to disturb the cloak she stood up and wandered across the road. Silently she crept up the Dursleys drive until she stood outside the front window. She peered inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry. Vernon Dursley filled an armchair in the corner and an equally large woman sat on the sofa. Talitha's heart jumped and a smile spread across her face as a small skinny boy walked past the doorway. She had expected him to look similar to James but not this much. It could have easily been James in that house. Talitha remained rooted to the spot for a few minutes in the hope to see Harry again. She was just about to turn away when he walked in to the living room. It was all Talitha could do not to tap on the window or knock on the door. She hated the thought of him living here. She had only met Petunia once and that was enough to convince her that she didn't want Harry living here but she had no choice in the matter, she understood the reasons but it still didn't make it any easier. Harry sat on the sofa as far as possible away from the large woman looking extremely bored for a few minutes before they all got up and left the room. Talitha expected they had gone to have dinner. Maybe she should go and have a look round to see if there were any signs of Sirius. She turned and looked around the desolate street, thinking that there was a surprisingly lack of activity seeing as this was where the boy the escaped murder was looking for lived. She smiled to herself wondering if there were Aurors wandering up and down the street in invisibility cloaks. No, Moody would have at least one person visible. That was assuming Moody was in charge of the search for Sirius. Talitha hoped so, at least he would listen to Sirius if they caught him. He might have a chance then.  
  
Talitha walked around the surrounding area but found no evidence that Sirius was around. She had expected to see a large black dog skulking in the shadows.  
  
Talitha decided to make her way back to the Dursleys and so made her way down Privet Drive. The curtains were closed now but she could still see a light shining through them. She settled herself back on the wall and waited. Her mind wandered thinking about Sirius and Harry, so she wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around her. Suddenly she heard a loud bang as the Dursley's front door crashed open and Harry appeared with his trunk and a large metal cage. He quickly looked one way down the street and then set of in the other direction. Talitha, wondering what he was up to, followed. Still covered by the invisibility cloak she tracked him though three streets until he sat down on a wall looking angry. After a short time Harry's appearance of anger was wearing off as he started to look slightly panicked. Although concerned about him, Talitha couldn't help but smile, forward planning had never been a good Potter trait, they were kind of do now think later people and it was obvious Harry was like that as well. Harry looked around the street as Talitha noticed he had his wand in his hand. This did not look good, part of her wanted to go immediately and get someone here who could help him, he was obviously in some sort of trouble. The other part of her mind told her to stay in case anything else happened. She decided to wait and see what happened. Harry opened his trunk and started rummaging around, looking for something. Suddenly he stood up and looked around as if he had heard something. He turned back to the trunk but was soon looking around again. Talitha glanced round to try and see what Harry had heard or sensed. Nothing was around as far as she could see but Harry was looking over at a small alley way. Harry lit his wand and flashed the light around. Talitha saw Harry step back and span round to see what was there. A big pair of eyes looked back at her.  
  
'Padfoot' She whispered to herself. Quickly she ran over to the alley way not noticing Harry fall over his trunk. She was almost there when…  
  
BANG  
  
Talitha whipped round to see the Knight Bus appear and saw Harry lying on the pavement. She turned back to where the black dog had been but it had gone. With a backwards glance at Harry she ran down the alley looking for Sirius. On reaching the end of the alley she stopped and looked around, there was no sign of him. She exited the alley way just in time to see Harry get on the Knight bus and it disappear.  
  
'Yeah nice one Talitha' she thought to herself 'They were here in the same street and you lost them both' She walked around the area again quickly but still no sign of Sirius. With a final looked down the alley, she apperated back to Remus's house.  
  
Remus was pacing the room when she arrived. He looked at her as she appeared  
  
"And?"  
  
"You've got to go and do something Remus." Talitha told him hurriedly "Harry got on the Knight bus with his school trunk. Stormed out of the house before hand, looks like he's trying to run away from the Dursley's"  
  
"He doesn't have yours and James's temper then" Remus smiled with a hint of sarcasm. Talitha smiled back at him.  
  
"OK, I'll go and let Dumbledore know" he continued, "You stay here"  
  
Talitha sat down on Remus's sofa, trying to work out what Sirius might do next. Harry wasn't such a big problem, they just had to find the Knight bus. Sirius wouldn't go back to Little Whinging now, he would know Harry had seen him.  
  
Remus stumbled back out of the fire place and back into the room about ten minutes later.  
  
"They've sent people out to look for Harry" he told Talitha "Don't worry they'll find him"  
  
Talitha let out a small laugh,  
  
"I'm probably the one least worried about Harry. I'm the only one who won't be worried that Sirius will find him. The only thing I'm worried about is Harry doing something stupid. He is a Potter after all"  
  
Remus smiled back at her briefly before returning to a more serious face.  
  
"Was he there?" Remus asked. Talitha paused for a second before answering.  
  
"No" she lied "I didn't see Sirius" It was the first time in her life she could remember lying to Remus and she didn't like it. However, she wasn't a hundred percent sure that he wouldn't inform the ministry and it wasn't as if she had actually spoken to Sirius. At least this way she wasn't making Remus have to hid anything   
  
"Harry disappeared on the Knightbus before I had chance to look properly so I thought I'd best come back"  
  
Remus nodded slowly. Talitha was sure he knew she was lying but he didn't say anything.  
  
"Dumbledore said you should go" Remus told her "He said if the Ministry find out your back in the country while this is happening you'll likely end up in Azkaban yourself. Fudge will have everyone convinced you helped him escape"  
  
"I can't leave now" Talitha protested half-heartedly, knowing that Dumbledore was right.  
  
"Go back to Australia, Tali. It's for the best" Remus told her  
  
"You're right Moony, as always" she smiled at him. She walked over to him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.  
  
"I'll keep you informed on what's going on" Remus promised her before letting go. "Right I'll come back to the flat with you so you can get your stuff. The sooner you're gone the better"  
  
The black dog crawled into a small opening between two rocks into a tiny cave, dropped a newspaper on the ground and transformed into a man. Sirius picked up the newspaper and settled himself on the cold damp floor to read it. He scanned down the front page of the newspaper and was shocked to find himself not on it. He got to page three before he found himself mentioned and he smiled slightly. Every day he had managed to steal a newspaper and he found it slightly odd to see his picture in it, especially one of him looking so ill. Sirius glanced at the date at the top of the page and realised that tomorrow would be the start of term at Hogwarts. Earlier that day he had sat thinking about his own time at Hogwarts and the fun he had had with his friends, wondering if Harry was like James. He was still getting used to being able to recall happy memories now he was away from the Dementors. However the thought of his old friends had brought back sad memories so he quickly tried to think of something else. It was hard to find something that did not remind him of what he had done, of what Peter had done.  
  
Sirius flicked through the rest of the pages and when he found nothing of interest he threw it down on to the floor. He stared out of the small opening between the rocks, through which he could just see the village of Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts in the background. Sirius felt a warm feeling in his stomach when he realised that at this time tomorrow that's how close he would be to Harry. 


	9. Severus Snape and the Whomping Willow

"So, what have you guys got planned for tonight" Talitha asked as she reached over for the jug of pumpkin juice.  
  
It was lunch time at Hogwarts and five Gryffindors sat at the far end of the House table, as far away from the staff table as possible. Tonight was full moon and Talitha knew the four marauders would be out exploring.  
  
Talitha looked across the table at Remus who was already starting to look slightly ill. He was absent-mindedly stabbing a sausage with his knife as he was reading a book that was open on the table next to him. To his right sat Peter, a small chubby boy, who at that moment was eating his fourth helping of mashed potato. On the other side of Remus was Talitha's cousin, James. Talitha grinned as she watched him gazing down the table at a certain red-haired girl. His left hand ran through the back of his hair as he pushed peas around his plate with the fork in his other hand. Only Sirius sitting next to her seemed to have heard her question.  
  
"Nothing definite planned yet, have we Prongs?" He replied  
  
"Huh? What?" James answered, being shaken out of his daydream by hearing his nickname.  
  
"Plans for tonight" Sirius prompted  
  
"I got detention remember, in potions, thanks to Snivelly" James grumbled "And tonight of all nights. I won't be able to come"  
  
Sirius shrugged and turned to Remus  
  
"What're we going to do then?" He asked the werewolf  
  
"Don't mind" Remus replied without looking up from his book  
  
"Don't be too enthusiastic Moony" Sirius laughed. Remus looked up and smiled back at him  
  
"Sorry, I'm not with it today. I'm feeling a bit rough"  
  
"Pete, any ideas" Sirius asked the other boy  
  
"mnnn…no…not really" The boy muttered, still eating. He glanced up "Brilliant, pudding."  
  
Sirius and James both laughed and rolled their eyes upwards  
  
James, Sirius and Remus arrived back in the common room following afternoon lessons. Talitha was sitting on one of the sofas reading a defence against the dark arts book.  
  
"Where's Peter?" she asked as the three boys came over to her  
  
"Broken arm" Remus said as he headed up to the dorm  
  
"Fell down that trick step again" Sirius laughed as he slumped on the sofa next to Talitha. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"He's got to stay in the hospital wing tonight" James added  
  
"I'm going down to the library for half an hour before I have to go" Remus told them as he reappeared holding a large book  
  
"Hang on I'll come with you" Talitha said as she stood up "There's a book I want to look at for defence class"  
  
Talitha and Remus were almost at the library when they saw Snape walking towards them down the narrow passage. As the three students met they all came to a halt.  
  
"Move out of the way Snivelly" Talitha said. Snape glared at her and then at Remus.  
  
"You're about due to disappear again soon aren't you?" Snape asked Remus bitterly, ignoring Talitha "You know, I'd love to find out where you go"  
  
"I bet you would" Talitha retorted with a slight grin. Remus remained silent  
  
"I'll work it out one day and then you and your pathetic friends will all be in trouble" Snape spat at Remus.  
  
Talitha had her wand out and pointing at his chest before he had finished speaking.  
  
"You're going to get what's coming to you one day, Snivellus" she said quietly  
  
Snape pulled his wand out quickly and yelled.  
  
"Expelliarmus" Talitha's wand fell out of her hand, as she bent down to pick it up Snape shot another jinx at her. The force of it knocked her to the ground as pain spread throughout her body.  
  
"Impedimenta" Remus yelled pulling out his own wand. Snape blocked the spell with a shield charm and then shot a stunning spell at Remus. Remus crashed to the ground as Talitha was pulling herself back up.  
  
"Let's see what you're made of now you haven't got those idiotic boys to protect you" Snape hissed as he shot yet another jinx at Talitha. She blocked this one and hit Snape with a flash of light, leaving a large gash on his face.  
  
Three sparks flew back hitting her leg. The pain was so intense that she almost keeled over again but managed to put a hand out and steady herself on the wall.  
  
By the time Remus started to come round from the stunner both Talitha and Snape were covered in cuts and gashes. Their robes were torn and Talitha couldn't put any weight on her left leg.  
  
Remus, still on the floor, tried to hex Snape but missed due to his half dazed state. Another flash of light left Remus's arm bleeding, heavily.  
  
"Petrificus Totalis" Talitha shouted and Snape fell stiffly to the floor. Talitha pulled Remus up onto his feet.  
  
"He's lucky I'm not a tell tale, attacking two prefects" Talitha said as she kicked Snape in the ribs. She winced in pain as she realised she had used the leg that had been hit by Snapes spell. Remus was inspecting the cut on his arm which was now bleeding quite heavily. Talitha tore a piece from her already ruined robes and wrapped it around Remus's arm. They headed back to the common room, Taltiha leaning on Remus for support.  
  
Sirius and James looked up from their game of exploding snap as Talitha limped over to them.  
  
"You better get that seen to" Talitha was saying as she pointed at Remus's arm.  
  
"I'll not bother, I'll have worse than that by tomorrow any way" He replied as he helped her sit down slowly on to the sofa  
  
"What happened" James asked, looking concerned.  
  
"Snape" Remus replied "He was going on about where I disappear to again and when Tali told him to shut up he hexed her."  
  
"Git" Talitha added  
  
"I've got to go" Remus said looking at his watch "Don't bother coming tonight Padfoot, stay with Tali"  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"yeah I'll be fine. See you tomorrow"  
  
"I better get to detention as well" James added as he followed Remus out of the common room. After they had gone Talitha explained the whole incident to Sirius  
  
"Right he's had it this time, he's gone to far" Sirius growled as he jumped to his feet and headed towards the portrait hole"  
  
"Don't do anything stupid" Talitha yelled after him, unable to get to her feet and stop him.  
  
Sirius found Snape in the library, his head buried in a book. Snape jumped as he looked up to find Sirius glaring at him. Sirius pulled over a chair and sat astride it.  
  
"I want a word with you Snivelly"  
  
Snape didn't speak but glared back at Sirius  
  
"You never do anything like that again to Talitha" Sirius warned him "and you keep your nose out of our business"  
  
"I know you and your little friends are up to something Black and as soon as I find out you'll all be in so much trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get expelled. What will your parents think then?"  
  
Sirius let out a small bark of laughter  
  
"You obviously don't know much about my family. They wouldn't care two hoots if I got expelled except for the disgrace it would bring to the family and if Bellatrix hasn't told you, I already am a disgrace to the noble Black family"  
  
"Well the perfect Potters won't be too pleased when their precious son and that half-blood get kicked out" Snape replied.  
  
Sirius snarled as Snape continued to glare at him. The Potter's were more like family to Sirius than his own parents and brother ever would be. Sirius lost his cool and the anger started to rise inside of him.  
  
"Go to the Whomping Willow" Sirius growled at Snape "Press the large knot with a stick. You'll find a tunnel, follow that and all will be revealed" Sirius stood up angrily, knocking the chair over as he did so. With a final glare at Snape he turned and walked coolly and casually out of the library and back up to the common room.  
  
Talitha was still sitting on the sofa when Sirius arrived back. He had calmed down since his argument with Snape.  
  
"You didn't do anything to him did you?" Talitha asked him cautiously "You know he'd love to report you for something"  
  
"I only spoke to him. I warned him off that's all" Sirius replied. Talitha looked him in the eye trying to work out if he was telling the truth.  
  
"Honest" Sirius told her.   
  
"As soon as you say 'honest' that's when I know you've been up to something" Talitha laughed. Sirius grinned.  
  
"no really I only talked to him" he said, still grinning "Anyway enough about Snivelly, we've got the evening to ourselves, no interruptions, seeing as everyone else isn't going to be around. What shall we do?"  
  
"Well, I thought maybe I would sit here with my leg hurting for a bit" Talitha laughed sarcastically "Or maybe I'll go for a run"  
  
"Aww! Poor Tali, is it still hurting?" Sirius grinned in a tone of mock sympathy. Talitha hit him playfully with her book  
  
"So what are we going to do?" Sirius asked   
  
"Wizard chess" Talitha suggested but changed her mind before Sirius answered and shook her head   
  
"Nah, boring" Sirius replied  
  
"Exploding Snap?" Talitha asked. Sirius screwed up his face and shook his head  
  
"How about" he started with a mischievous twinkle in his eye "we go up to my dorm and I'll massage your leg for you"  
  
"Ok you're on" Talitha grinned  
  
James didn't expect anyone to around when he got back to Gryffindor tower, as it was late. He entered through the portrait to see Talitha limping over to a chair.  
  
"Hey" he called to her, hurrying over "hang on I'll help you"  
  
"I'll be ok now" Talitha laughed as she fell into the chair  
  
"I'll kill Snape when I see him" James said angrily  
  
"Sirius has already had words with him" Talitha told James "I have this feeling he did something else as well but he won't say. He was ok when he got back from talking to him but he went really quiet later on. He's up in the dorm, maybe he'll tell you"  
  
"I'll go and see" James said with a grin as he ran up the stairs two at a time.  
  
"Padfoot?" James called out as he opened the door to the dorm. Sirius was sitting on his bed, looking thoughtful, most unusual for him.  
  
"What's up, mate?" James asked sitting down next to him.  
  
"Nothin" Sirius replied  
  
"Well, that's obviously a lie" James grinned. Sirius smiled back at him  
  
"Yeah, I suppose it is"  
  
"So, are you going to tell me then?" James asked  
  
"I've done something really stupid Prongs. I didn't even realise till just now how stupid it was…"  
  
"Go on" James prompted  
  
"I told Snape about the Whomping Willow. I told him to go down there tonight. I didn't say anything about Moony though"  
  
"You did what?" James shouted  
  
"I know, I can't believe it either. I was just so mad after what he'd done to Talitha and he was going on about getting us all expelled, I just lost it" Sirius said guiltily. The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes.  
  
"He wouldn't be stupid enough to actually go down there would he?" Sirius asked quietly  
  
"I don't know" replied James  
  
"I mean if Snape told you to do something like that would you?"  
  
"No" said James "I wouldn't do it if you told me to and I'm your friend. Yeah he'd have to be pretty thick to do something you suggest to him"  
  
"But he's been wanting to find out for ages" Sirius said  
  
"Maybe but he would think you were just messing about, trying to get your own back. Snivellus is a lot of things but he isn't stupid" James said  
  
"Yeah I guess you're right" replied Sirius "I'm going to get some sleep then"  
  
"Ok, I've got some homework to finish so I'm going back down to the common room"  
  
"James, if Tali's still down there, don't tell her what I've done. She'll only get mad"  
  
"Right" James grinned as he grabbed his bag and headed to the door.  
  
The common room was empty by the time he got back, Talitha must have gone to bed. James settled himself in a chair and got out his charms homework. Rummaging round for a quill, he realised he had the marauders map in his bag. Taking it out, he spread it on the table in front of him.  
  
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good" he said quietly and watched as the map appeared. Casually he glanced over it, Talitha was up in the girls dorm, Sirius in the boys and a tiny figure labelled James Potter in the common room. Peter was in the Hospital wing not moving, he must be asleep. No sign of Moony, he hadn't wandered back onto school grounds so all was well there. James picked up his quill and started writing. A few minutes later he looked up and glanced at the map again. He frowned as he saw a small dot moving quickly over the school grounds. It was labelled Severus Snape. James jumped up quickly, not quiet believing that Snape would be so stupid. James raced up to the dorm and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He didn't wake Sirius as there wouldn't be enough time, he had to get to Snape before he reached the shrieking shack.  
  
Throwing the cloak over him he raced through the common room and out into the corridor. He ran through the school, slowing down only momentarily so he could get past the caretaker without being heard. Once outside he picked up speed, running faster than he had ever run before, his heart was pounding. James reached the whomping willow and grabbed a stick which had obviously been used by Snape and prodded the tree. He crawled under the branches and slipped inside the tunnel, pulling the cloak off as he was doing so. Pausing briefly to light his wand so he could see in the dark tunnel, James set off running again. He hoped that Snape wasn't moving as fast as he was so that he would catch up with him. Only now did James realise he had left the marauders map on the table and could only hope that no one would find it. On and on he ran until he had almost given up hope. From experience he knew that in a few minutes he would be at the shrieking shack. Snape must already be there. He turned the final corner and saw a small glimmer of light which meant the door to the shack was open. James slowed down to a more cautious pace as he approached the opening. Peering through, he caught sight of Snape disappearing through the door that lead upstairs  
  
"Snape! NO!" he shouted, but Snape didn't reappear. James climbed into the shack and followed Snape up the stairs. James heard a growl as he reached the top step and quickly looked around. Snape was standing still in one of the doorways, unable to move with fright. Instinctively, James grabbed hold of the back of Snape's robes and pulled him back and down the stairs, not bothering that Snape's head hit the wall in the process. James almost threw Snape back into the tunnel and yelled down after him  
  
"Go! Run! I'll follow you in a minute. Wait at the end of the tunnel"  
  
James heard a noise on the stairs and quickly transformed himself. The stag made towards the noise and came face to face with a savage werewolf. Using his antlers he pushed Moony back up the stairs. Seeing him calm slightly, Prongs returned down the stairs and headed over to the tunnel entrance. Transforming back he climbed in and made his way back along the tunnel, wondering what he was going to say to Snape when he caught up with him.  
  
James immerged from the Hogwarts end of the tunnel to find Professor McGonagal walking over to the whomping willow with a worried expression on her face. This disappeared as soon as she saw James with all his arms and legs intact. She grabbed hold of him by the back of his robes and pushed him back up towards the castle, as she started shouting at him. James didn't understand most of what she was saying because he was desperately trying to come up with some excuse for what had happened.  
  
"Worried sick…If she hadn't told…what do you think you were doing…" He heard Professor McGonagal rambling as she all but dragged him through the school to Dumbledore's office  
  
"Professor…Is Snape…" James tried to interrupt  
  
"Yeas, Potter, He is fine" Professor McGonagol snapped "Scared out of his life but otherwise…"  
  
They had reached Dumbledore's office by now and after professor McGonagol had said the password, she sent James inside.  
  
Cautiously, James walked inside the office that had become quite familiar to him over the past years, trying to decide exactly how he was going to kill Sirius if he didn't get expelled first.  
  
"Ah…James" he heard Dumbledore say "Take a seat"  
  
James sat down, somewhat nervously. He was used to being in trouble, even with the Headmaster but he didn't think anything beat this.   
  
"So…" Dumbledore began "Are you going to tell me what all this is about?" James could tell that although he had asked this question, the headmaster knew exactly what had happened.  
  
"I knew that Snape knew about the whomping willow and I saw him going over there" James said quickly hoping to avoid the question about how Snape knew. However mad James was with Sirius for being such an idiot, he wasn't going to tell on him. If necessary, James would have to take the blame himself.  
  
"And I will assume you as well know about the whomping willow and Mr Lupins condition"  
  
James nodded.  
  
"Very well, only as I expected" Dumbledore said "Severus has been told of the situation and has been sworn to secrecy. He will not tell anyone"  
  
James was relieved when the Headmaster told him this.  
  
"Now, I shall assume you aren't going to tell me how exactly Severus found out about this"  
  
James stared down at his feet and remained silent  
  
"As I thought, the James, you must take responsibility for what happened and serve the punishment. You will receive detention for a week, maybe that will serve to remind you, and your friends, to be careful who this is mentioned to"  
  
James nodded and looked up  
  
"Professor, how did you find out?" He asked  
  
"Your cousin went and found Professor McGonagol when she realised that you had gone"  
  
"Oh, right" James said  
  
"That will be all James"  
  
James stood up and walked out into the corridor. He headed up to Gryffindor Tower expecting the common room to be silent as it was now the early hours of the morning. Instead he could hear shouting.  
  
"What, in Merlin's name where you playing at?" He could hear Talitha shouting  
  
"I don't know" Sirius yelled back "I wasn't thinking. I never expected him to go down there did I?"  
  
"Well you're lucky everything turned out alright" Talitha continued "Not only did you put Snapes life in danger but James's as well."  
  
"Yeah I know" Sirius said, sounding guilty  
  
"And how do you think Moony's going to feel when he finds out? Can you even start to imagine how he would have felt if he'd bitten one of them? And what do you think would have happened to him if he did. No way would he have been able to stay at school"  
  
James walked through into the common room. Talitha stopped shouting at Sirius and turned towards him.  
  
"James are you alright?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah fine" James replied "Detention for a week no thanks to you two but otherwise"  
  
"Look, James, I'm sorry, I had to go and tell someone when I found the map out here on the table and saw you in the tunnel. I was worried you'd get hurt" Talitha said  
  
Sirius stared at the floor uncomfortably  
  
"James, I'm sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen. You should have got me up and I would have gone after him. I'll go and tell McGonagol it was me if you want"  
  
"Nah, then we'll just both be in trouble" James said with small smile "Just promise me that you'll think before opening your mouth next time" 


End file.
